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Book— 

Gopyiight^J? 


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THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 











































































































Long and hard fought Thyrza , and presently a great gust of the gale 
swept her against the Bell of the Sea 







The STARLIGHT 
WONDER BOOK 

By HENRY B. BESTON 

AUTHOR OF 

The FIRELIGHT FAIRY BOOK 



WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY 

MAURICE DAY 


The ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS 
BOSTON 








COPYRIGHT I923 BY THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY PRESS, INC. 



MINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


SEP 12 '23 

©C1A711856 

s\\.$ j 





7 To 

MISS MABEL DAVISON 
MY WAR TIME GODMOTHER, 
jviih the 
HOMAGE 
and 

GRATEFUL AFFECTIOU 

m 

HBB* 




r 











CONTENTS 


rAQB 

THE BRAVE GRENADIER. S 

THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT.21 

THE ENCHANTED BABY. 45 

THE TWO MILLERS.69 

THE ADAMANT DOOR.89 

THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP . . . 110 ‘ 

AELEEL AND AILINDA.131 

THE WONDERFUL TUNE.151 

THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD.174 

THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN . . .193 

THE BELL OF THE EARTH AND THE BELL OF THE SEA 215 
THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD . . .239 








ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

THE BELL OF THE EARTH AND THE BELL OF THE SEA 

Long and hard fought Thyrza, and presently a great gust of the gale swept 
her against the Bell of the Sea ..... Frontispiece 

THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

Suddenly the soldier’s foot dislodged a piece of clattering stone, and the 
hippodrac awoke . . . . . . . . .13 

THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

The image in the mirror stood still ....... 35 

THE ENCHANTED BABY 

Over hill, over dale, in a long straight line, fled the Master Thief with the 
golden perambulator ......... 57 

THE TWO MILLERS 

He lifted a moistened finger to the air. Good heavens, there was n’t a 
breath of wind l . . . . . . . . . . 85 

THE ADAMANT DOOR 

Summoning up all his courage, Hugh threw open the adamant door . . 105 

THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

The runaway Princess stepped forth into the dark street and, taper in 
hand, hurried to the gate of the city wall . . . . . .117 

AILEEL AND AILINDA 

And now, all at once, there were cries and shouts of alarm. “ Run l Run, 

everybody l The bird l Oh, see the bird l” . . . . . 149 

THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

“ No, I do not agree with you,” shouted the Lord Organist . . . 171 

THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

Before him stood the Man of the Wildwood • • • • • 187 

THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

For a long moment Leoline, awed yet unafraid, gazed at the Giant of the 
Mountain ......... ^03 

THE BELL OF THE EARTH AND THE BELL OF THE SEA 

And stowing the Bell of the Earth in the hold of his ship, the young Cap¬ 
tain sailed eastward and southward through the sea .... 229 

THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

Fidelia knelt at the edge of the pool, and filled her golden cup with the 
waters of memory ........ ^57 












































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 



THE BRAVE GRENADIER 


Once upon a time, during a great battle which 
was fought through the night in a tempest of 
lightning and rain, a brave young grenadier 
came upon one of the enemy lying sorely 
wounded on the field. Taking pity upon his 
foeman, the soldier bound up his wounds and 
carried him from the battle to the shelter of a 
little wood. Scarce had the wounded youth 
opened his eyes, when amid a blinding flash of 
lightning and a peal of tumbling thunder, a 
green chariot drawn by green dragons rushed 
downward through the hurrying clouds and 
sank to earth at the soldier’s side. Bidding the 
dragons be still, a tall, dark, and stately man 
wearing a long green mantle descended from 
the chariot, took the wounded lad in his arms, 
and thus addressed the grenadier: — 
“Generous friend, to you I owe the life of my 
youngest son. I am the Enchanter of the Green 

3 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Glen. Take you this little green wand in mem¬ 
ory of the great debt I owe you. Whatsoever 
you strike once with it will continue to grow 
larger till you cry' stop ’; whatsoever you strike 
twice with it will grow smaller till you bid the 
magic cease. Farewell, brave soldier, and may 
good fortune walk forever by your side.” 

Then, wrapping his wide green mantle about 
the body of his son, the Wizard bade his scaly, 
yellow-eyed dragons be on their way, and 
vanished on high in the tempest and the dark. 

And now the wars were over and done, and 
the soldier found himself mustered out and 
turned loose to earn his living in the world. 
Still clad in his grenadier’s uniform, and wear¬ 
ing his blue greatcoat buttoned close about 
him, he slung his knapsack to his shoulder, 
fastened it to his belt in front by crossed straps 
of white leather, put on his big shiny hat, and 
turned from the camp over the hills and 
far away. 

It was the early autumn of the year: great 
4 


THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

roaring gusts swept by overhead, singing shrilly 
through the withered leaves still clinging to the 
branches, apples lay red ripe in the frost-nipped 
grass, and the country folk were gleaning in the 
stubble of the fields. On through the villages 
went the soldier, hoping to find work for the 
winter among the farms; he knocked at this 
door and at that, but ever in vain. Presently 
the mighty summits of the Adamant Moun¬ 
tains, gleaming with new-fallen snow, rose be¬ 
yond the bare woods and the lonely fields. 
Following the great royal road, the soldier 
tramped on into the very heart of the moun¬ 
tain mass. 

“Perhaps I shall meet with better luck in the 
kingdoms beyond the peaks,” thought the 
grenadier, as he trudged along. How still it 
was! Now the soldier could hear the roaring 
of the river in the gorge below the road, now 
the cry of the eagles circling high above some 
desolate crag. 

At high noon on the third day, the soldier 
5 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

arrived at the brazen column which marks the 
descent of the royal road to the kingdoms be¬ 
yond the hills. A biting wind, keen with the 
smell of snow, blew from the surrounding peaks, 
and made the soldier very hungry indeed. Shel¬ 
tering himself against the giant column, he 
slipped his knapsack from his shoulder, and 
looked within for the last of the bread and 
cheese which a good wife of the mountain vil¬ 
lages had given him the day before. Alas, there 
was but the tiniest crust of bread to be found, 
and the littlest crumb of cheese! Suddenly, as 
he fished about in the sack, the grenadier dis¬ 
covered the little green wand. He had quite 
forgotten it. A notion came into his head to try 
the magic, and he struck the bit of bread one 
smart tap. 

The moment he did so, the fragment of bread 
bounced a few inches into the air, and fell back 
to the ground; soon it was the size of a loaf of 
bread; a moment or two later the loaf had 
grown to the size of a table; soon the mass of 
6 


THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

bread was the size of a small house. And it was 
growing, growing, growing. 

“Stop!” cried the soldier. The magic ceased. 
The soldier struck the mountain of bread twice. 

Again it leaped into the air, but this time it 
began to grow less. Like to a candle end in the 
fire, it began to vanish before the soldier’s eyes. 
Presently it was once more the size of a generous 
loaf, and thus the soldier bade it retnain. Next 
he enchanted the bit of cheese to an ample size, 
and found himself provided with victuals fit 
for a king. Later, when he had eaten his fill, he 
amused himself by enchanting a pebble into a 
great rock. And that rock may be seen in the 
Adamant Mountains to this very day! 

At the end of a week’s journey the soldier 
reached the Golden Plain, which lies between the 
Adamant Mountains and the sea. 

Now at the time of the soldier’s arrival, the 
people of the Golden Plain were being day by 
day swept to hunger and ruin by the devasta¬ 
tion wrought throughout their land by a hippo- 
7 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

drac. Driven by hunger, so some thought, from 
its stony lair in the forests of the sun, this ter¬ 
rible creature had suddenly swooped down on 
the harvest fields a month before, and had 
roamed the land till the precious grain had for 
the most part been consumed or destroyed. 
Worse yet, the hippodrac was even then break¬ 
ing open the royal granaries, in which lay 
such grain as the citizens had been able to 
store away. 

This terrible creature, I must tell you, was a 
kind of fearsome winged horse. It was larger 
than any earthly animal, black as midnight in 
color, and armored over the chest and head 
with a sheath of dragon’s scales. Add to this a 
pair of giant wings, black and lustrous as a 
raven’s, a wicked horse-like head with huge 
jaws, hoofs of blue steel, and an appetite like a 
devouring flame, and you will see that the 
people of the Golden Plain had true cause for 
alarm. Black wings outspread, blue hoofs 
plunging, roaring from the fiery pits of its 


THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

violet nostrils, the hippodrac was master in 
the land. 

In the hope of ridding themselves of the mon¬ 
ster, the people of the Golden Plain offered a 
huge treasure to whosoever might conquer the 
invader. In true soldier fashion the grenadier 
resolved to fight the hippodrac, and win fame 
and fortune at a blow. 

Now the Lord Chancellor of the realm, who 
ruled the land during the minority of the Prin¬ 
cess Mirabel, had no intention whatever of pay¬ 
ing the promised reward. Not only had this 
wicked man stolen so much money from the 
royal treasury that scarce was a penny left, 
but also was he miserly, cruel, and avaricious. 
Torn between fear of the hippodrac and fear of 
having to empty his own money-bags of the 
stolen gold in order to pay the reward, the 
Chancellor wandered back and forth all day 
through the castle halls. Thus far, however, no 
one had ever returned to claim the treasure. 
After talking with some who had seen the 


9 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

hippodrac, the soldier retired to a little inn to 
make his plans. Sitting alone in a great settle 
by the fire, he watched the flames grow ruddier 
as the afternoon sun sank below the western 
hills. Presently it was night, a night quiet, 
cool, and bright with great winter stars. 

The grenadier made his way unobserved out 
of the royal city, and soon arrived in the 
midst of the ruined and trampled fields. Here 
the grain had been gathered, bound in sheaves, 
and left to perish when the harvesters fled; here 
the uncut stalks had withered in the ground; 
here stood a house from which everyone had 
run for his life. Presently the soldier beheld, 
standing apart on a lonely hill, the crumbling 
towers of the ruined castle which served as the 
hippodrac’s den. 

A late, wasted, half-moon began to rise. The 
soldier made his way up the slope, and peered 
through the doorless portal into the moonlit 
ruin. 

At the end of the great entrance-hall of the 
10 


THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

castle, its monstrous head resting on the lowest 
step of the winding stair which led to the roof¬ 
less banqueting-hall above, lay the monster. 
The rays of the waning moon, slanting through 
the broken tracery of a great window, fell on its 
vast bulk; a rumbling breathing alone dis¬ 
turbed the starry silence of the night. 

“I must make my way down those stairs,” 
said the grenadier to himself, and crept off to 
seek a way to the banqueting hall above. 
Finally he managed to find a little stairway in 
a ruined turret. Creeping along softly, ever so 
softly, over the floor of the banqueting hall, he 
reached the head of the great stair and looked 
down its curving steps to the monster asleep 
below. Then, step by step by step, the grenadier 
approached the hippodrac. 

Suddenly the soldier’s foot dislodged a piece of 
clattering stone. The hippodrac awoke with a 
scream, but the soldier struck it two swift taps 
with the little green wand. 

The instant he did so, the hippodrac uttered 


11 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

a cry of fright and rage which waked the good 
folk of the city in their beds, and bounced, 
wings beating wildly, in the air. The grenadier 
took refuge at the head of the balustrade. 
Smaller and smaller grew the furious and be¬ 
wildered beast. Now it had shrunk to the size 
of a pony, now it had dwindled to the size of a 
dog, now it was scarce larger than a kitten. 

‘ ‘ Stop! ’ ’ cried the grenadier. Wild with fright, 
the tiny monster took wing, and fluttered like a 
terrified bird into a corner of the ruins. And 
there, beating about and flapping its wings 
madly, the grenadier caught it in his high hat, 
and shook it into his knapsack. This done, he 
walked swiftly back to the inn, and went to bed. 

Now one of the Lord Chancellor’s rascals had 
been on watch for his return, and when the 
grenadier returned with the light of victory in 
his eyes, this spy ran to inform his rogue of a 
master. Suspecting magic of some kind, the 
wicked Chancellor made his way to the inn, and 
stole the green wand while the soldier slept. 

12 



Suddenly the soldier s foot dislodged a piece of clattering stone t 
and the hippodrac awoke 



























THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Early the next morning, the soldier sent word 
to the counselors of court that he had mastered 
the hippodrac, and waited their good pleasure 
to prove the truth of his word. Within a very 
short time a royal messenger appeared, sum¬ 
moning him before the assembled court at the 
tenth hour. 

And now the soldier, carrying the tiny hippo¬ 
drac in his knapsack, was led to the judg¬ 
ment hall of the royal palace. The Princess 
Mirabel sat on the throne of the realm, whilst 
the Lord Chancellor stood by her side, a smile 
of triumph on his wicked lips. But the soldier 
had eyes only for the young Princess, who was 
as fair as the first wild rose of the year. As for 
the Princess, it must be confessed that she 
thought the stalwart young grenadier with the 
black hair and the blue eyes quite the most 
pleasant person she had ever seen. 

Simply and modestly the grenadier told the 
story of his capture of the hippodrac. Leaning 
forward a little, the Princess listened eagerly. 

14 


THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

“And your proof of this — ?” questioned the 
Lord Chancellor. 

“Is here,” replied the grenadier, and opening 
his knapsack, he took from it the hippodrac and 
placed it on the carpet just before the throne. 
As the soldier had taken the precaution to clip 
the monster’s wings, the tiny thing could do 
naught but dance with rage on its little blue 
hoofs, and lash out madly right and left in a 
frenzy of fear. A murmur of astonishment rose 
from the assembly. There was a great craning 
of necks. All present looked at the Lord Chan¬ 
cellor to hear what he might say. 

“That little thing, the great hippodrac?” 
said the Lord Chancellor, evilly. “Pooh! ’Tis 
a juggler’s kitten, rather. I shall give no reward 
for this.” 

“You dare?” cried the grenadier fiercely. 
“Wait!” And he reached in his pocket for the 
little green wand, but, alas, the little green 
wand was gone. 

“Pooh! ” said the Chancellor again, watching, 


15 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

with contented eyes, the poor grenadier madly 
thrusting his hands into every pocket, “You 
see he cannot do as he pretends. The fellow 
is an impostor. Ho, guards! Take this rogue 
and his dancing kitten off to prison.” 

“But it looks like the hippodrac,” protested 
the Princess. 

“No! Not a bit of it, not a bit of it! ” roared 
the Chancellor. And he quickly silenced all 
those who were fain to see justice done, by 
threatening to send any objector to the royal 
diamond-mines in the Adamant Mountains. 

Left to himself in a lonely cell of the royal 
prison, the poor grenadier awaited the day of 
his departure for the mines. Finding the time 
hang heavy on his hands, he amused himself 
by trying to tame the tiny hippodrac. To his 
surprise and pleasure, the fierce little creature 
made a swift response. Soon it was eating 
crumbs from his hand. In a fortnight it could 
spell out words and letters by tapping the floor 
with its right foreleg! And day by day, its 
16 


THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

clipped wings grew once more to full size. 

“Oh, if you could only get me my green 
wand again !” said the soldier one morning. 

At these words, the hippodrac beat an excit¬ 
ed tattoo on the table, and before the soldier 
could seize it, spread its little gleaming wings, 
and fled through the barred window out into 
the world. 

All day long the soldier waited its return. “It 
has flown away forever,” he thought, as twi¬ 
light fell. A moment later, however, he heard a 
whir of tiny wings, and the hippodrac returned, 
the little green wand in its jaws. You may well 
believe that the soldier was overjoyed! That 
very night he found means to send a petition 
to the Princess, asking to be brought before 
her that he might at last prove the truth of 
his story. 

Now the Chancellor, knowing that his wicked 
scheme had succeeded, and never dreaming of 
the possibility of the grenadier’s escape, had 
gone a-hunting; so the Princess took matters 

17 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

into her own hands, and next morning sum¬ 
moned the grenadier before the court. Alas! 
Just as the grenadier reached the throne, the 
Chancellor, hastily summoned by another of 
his rascally spies, came striding angrily into 
the judgment hall. 

“What means this? ” he roared. “How came 
that fellow to be out of prison? Ho, guards, 
take him back at once!” 

“No!” said the little Princess bravely. “I 
believe in him, and he shall have justice in 
my realm!” 

“Do you dare defy me? ” cried the Chancellor. 
“Guards, do your duty! I am Regent here.” 

A handful of soldiers strode toward the gren¬ 
adier. With a smile on his lips and in his eyes, 
the grenadier struck the hippodrac one smart 
tap with the magic wand. 

The creature bounced, and instantly began 
to increase in size; suddenly it snorted fierce¬ 
ly and reared on its hind legs; once again it 
screamed even such a scream as it had uttered 


18 


THE BRAVE GRENADIER 

when the grenadier enchanted it in the ruined 
castle. People began to fly pell-mell in every 
direction. Only Mirabel, who was a lass of 
spirit, stood her ground. 

When the hippodrac had reached its full size, 
the soldier cried “Stop l” Then, for a moment, 
the monster and the man gazed directly into 
each other’s eyes. The soldier still smiled. 

The hipjpodrac had understood. 

Uttering now the angriest cry of all, the crea¬ 
ture darted forward, and seized the Lord Chan¬ 
cellor by the scruff of his ugly neck. Then open¬ 
ing wide its giant wings, it leaped up on all four 
legs, and flying down the vast hall, crashed 
through a great window and out into the free¬ 
dom of the cloudless sky. So terrified was it by 
its experiences, that it flew back to its lair in the 
forests of the sun, and never bothered anybody 
any more. 

On the way home, while flying at a great 
height, it got bored with carrying the Lord 
Chancellor and let him drop. No one has since 

19 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

heard of this personage. No one ever will. 

When the excitement subsided, the citizens 
hailed the grenadier as the preserver of their 
country and offered him the treasure which the 
Chancellor had stolen away. But the grenadier 
had already found a treasure much more to his 
liking — the Princess Mirabel. The handsome 
young couple were married with great pomp 
and ceremony on New Year’s day. 

And thus the brave grenadier became a 
king, and with Mirabel by his side, ruled 
over the Golden Plain for many a long and 
happy year. 


20 


THE PALACE OF THE 
NIGHT 

Once upon a time there was an Emperor of the 
Isles, who had but one son, the Prince Porphyrio. 
On the day which beheld the Prince’s coming of 
age, the Emperor summoned the youth to his 
council chamber, and said to him: — 

“Dear son, when you were a little child, I 
pledged to you the hand of the Lady Liria, 
daughter of my friend and ally, the Emperor of 
the Plain. You are now of age, and I would fain 
send you forth to find the Princess and win her 
for your own.” 

Then replied the tall, golden-haired Prince, 
“Dear father, give me but a brave ship and a 
gallant crew, and I will this very eve set sail for 
the Emperor’s city and greet the Lady Liria.” 

Pleased with this speech, the Emperor gave 
orders that a fine ship be swiftly prepared for 
the voyage. And this was done. 

And now it was night, and the vessel lay wait- 


21 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

ing, her sails gleaming green-white in the moon¬ 
light, her ladder shrouds gently swaying 
against the pale and starry sky. When came 
the ebb of the midnight tide, the anchors 
were weighed, the great sails trimmed to the 
breeze, and the vessel piloted forth to the meas¬ 
ureless plain of the sea. 

Now it came to pass, as the great ship sped 
upon her furrowed way, that Porphyrio took it 
into his head to visit the Fair of the Golden 
Bear, and fled before the wind to the festival 
city. Little by little — for the air was but light 
— the ship left behind her the blue of the deeps, 
and entered the green waters of the shallows. 
Suddenly there was a cry of “Land Ho!” and 
from afar, over the landward hastening waves, 
Porphyrio beheld the great tower of the Fair. 
A giant golden image of a bear, standing erect, 
crowned the high tower-top, and shone dully 
bright above the haze. 

At sundown the Prince, accompanied by his 
mariners, found himself in the midst of the 


22 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

great Fair, in the very heart of the din, the 
medley of outlandish costumes, the babel of 
strange tongues, and the shrill cries of the shop¬ 
men and the merchants. Surely there was never 
such a market place as the Fair of the Golden 
Bear! 

Everything in the world was there to be 
bought and sold. At one booth a venerable man 
in a scholar’s gown and velvet cap sold words — 
rare words, rich words, strange words, beautiful 
words, and drove a brisk trade with a crowd of 
poets and lovers; at another an old woman in 
green sold rosy glasses to those who were at outs 
with the world; and at still another a joyous 
fellow in blue offered sunbeams, which he had 
caught in a mirror and imprisoned in bits of 
magic glass. 

Porphyrio was quite delighted with the sun¬ 
beams, which shone night and day, like dia¬ 
monds aflame with golden fires. “The Lady 
Liria will surely be pleased with one of these,” 
thought he, and purchased the finest of all. 

23 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Now it came to pass that, as he walked about 
the Fair with his retinue of sailor-men, Por- 
phyrio caught sight of a rustic fellow in brown 
corduroys who was carrying a sea bird in 
a wicker cage. And because he loved the wild 
folk of the sea, the Prince said to the country¬ 
man: — 

“Good friend, whither go you with your 
bird?” 

“To the animal merchants, sir,” replied the 
fellow. “ ’Tis a wild bird which I found in my 
field on a morning after a storm. Only look, 
sir; it wears a circle of feathers on its head, for 
all the world like a crown.” 

“Why, so it does!” said the young Prince. 
■“Come, will you sell him to me?” 

“Oh yes, indeed, sir,” replied the countryman. 
“ T is yours for a florin of gold and a penny of 
silver.” And he held out his hand for the sum. 

“Good!” said Porphyrio, and he paid the 
money. Then, to the countryman’s amaze¬ 
ment, he threw open the door of the cage, and 

24 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

allowed the sea bird to escape. With a glad 
cry, and a mighty beating of its gray wings, 
the creature climbed into a splendor of the 
sunset, dwindled to a black speck, and vanished 
from their eyes. 

Once more the Prince set sail. For a few days 
the weather remained tranquil and fair. Then 
came a night of cloud, and a rushing wind, 
which increased during the day to a hurricane. 
Now arose a great din, the howling of the wind 
through the shrouds, the cracking and strain¬ 
ing of the timbers of the ship, the cries of the 
sailors, and the roaring and foaming of the 
deep. All night long, through the wild ocean 
dark, the Prince’s ship drifted nearer and nearer 
the unknown waters of the Southern Sea. Sud¬ 
denly, just before the dawn, a tremendous noise 
was heard; the vessel trembled throughout her 
length, and crashing down once more on a 
hidden reef, broke apart. A huge wave swept 
Porphyrio from the deck, some wreckage 
hurled itself upon him, and he knew no more. 


25 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

When he woke again, -close upon noon, he 
found that the waves had carried him to the 
stony beach of a dark and unknown isle. A 
stately wall of cliffs of the strangest dark-blue 
stone girdled it about; to the left, to the right, 
the rampart swept, solemn, unscalable, and 
huge. One broken mast of the Prince’s ship still 
rose forlorn above the tumbling waters on the 
reefs; but of the gallant crew there was never a 
sign. With a heavy heart Porphyrio trudged 
off to look for shelter and for aid. Long hours 
followed he the curving shore, even till the sun, 
which had been shining in his face, little by 
little crept to the side and shone behind, yet 
never a way to the headland’s height stood 
forth in the sheer and sombre wall. 

And now, of a sudden, and by great good for¬ 
tune, — for the tide was rising, — Porphyrio, 
turning the base of an advancing crag, found 
himself close by a noble promontory that sloped 
from the cliff-top to foundations in the sea. 
Half climbing, half dragging himself along the 
26 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

stones and terraces of this ridge, the Prince 
attained at last the height of the blue wall. 

A great dark isle lay open before him — a 
solitary isle of shadowy lands, gloomy woods, 
and rocks and hillocks of the same dark stone 
he had marked before. Save for the faint mur¬ 
mur of the encircling sea below and the sighing 
of the wind, the isle was as silent as a land be¬ 
neath the deep: indeed, so still and dark it was, 
that it seemed as if the night reigned there, for¬ 
ever untroubled by the day. In the very heart 
of the gloom, its mighty walls and blue battle¬ 
ments lifted high against cloud mountains 
gathered in the west, a stately palace rose. 

After a long, winding journey through a wood 
dark as a leafy cave, Porphyrio arrived at the 
portals of the dwelling. 

The palace was as silent as a stone. Of silver 
were its massy doors, and they were sealed and 
barred, and from turret to foundation stone its 
windows were with silver shutters closed against 
the day. Not a sign or a memory of living 

27 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

things was there to be seen. 

Wondering in his heart at the mystery, Por- 
phyrio presently made his way into a noble 
garden, wherein were pools and basins of blue 
water rimmed about with silver, and tall, dark 
trees stately as night. Again to his wonderment, 
the Prince beheld that the flowers in the garden 
were such as opened only in the night — the 
pale, fragrant jasmine hid there, the moon- 
flower dreamed, and the shy star-daisy gathered 
her petals before her face. 

Suddenly the Prince heard steps behind him, 
and turning swiftly, beheld a fair Princess gaz¬ 
ing at him with eyes in which wonder, alarm, 
and hope might all be seen. 

“Speak! Who are you? What do you here?” 
said the Princess quickly. 

To this Porphyrio replied that he was a prince 
who had been shipwrecked on a voyage. And 
he told the Princess of his adventures. 

“Alas,” replied the lady, “You have come to 
the dark land! Know you not into whose power 
28 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

you have fallen? This dark isle is the dwelling 
of the Magician of the Night, who rules the 
fairy world from sunset to the morn. When 
comes the dawn, his mighty power wanes, and 
he and his people of the night hasten to this 
locked and shuttered palace, here to lie hidden 
from the sunlight which is their enemy and 
deadly fear. I alone go forth, for I, alas, am 
a mortal. But hearken to my story. 

“I am the Princess Liria (Porphyrio started). 
My father is the Emperor of the Plain. On 
midsummer eve, as I was walking with my 
handmaidens in the garden, a messenger from 
my father arrived bidding me come at once to 
the great hall of state. I obeyed the message, 
and going to the hall, found there the Magician 
of the Night, who had just presented a haughty 
petition for my hand. Because of his fear of the 
Magician, my father was very ill at ease. All 
looked to me for an answer. I replied courte¬ 
ously that, though I felt highly honored at the 
demand, I nevertheless felt bound to refuse, 


29 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

for I had been affianced since childhood to 
another. For you must know, good Prince, 
that my father was long the true friend and ally 
of the Emperor of the Isles, and had pledged my 
hand to his only son, the Prince Porphyrio. 

‘ ‘ Would that this were all I had to tell! But — 
woe to me! — scarce had the Magician, with a 
mocking smile, bowed low and disappeared into 
the night, when a terrible storm of his contriv¬ 
ing descended upon our unfortunate city, over¬ 
turning our tallest towers and strewing ruin 
far and wide. Our torches quenched by the 
rain and wind, my maidens and I took refuge 
in a great chamber of the north turret. At the 
height of the storm the wind suddenly burst 
open the double portals, there came a great 
flash of lightning and a roar of thunder, and I 
beheld the Magician standing tall and motion¬ 
less between the doors, surrounded by a dozen 
of his creatures of the night. I cried out, but 
his servants seized me and led me forth; great 
wings bore me upward through the very tor- 


30 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

ment of the heavens, a darkness fell on me, and 
I knew no more. When I awoke, I found myself 
here in the Palace of the Night. 

“Farewell, dear land of the Golden Plain, 
whose harvests I shall never more see! Fare¬ 
well, dear Prince Porphyrio of the Isles!” 

“But I am Porphyrio!” cried the Prince, 
“and I was on my way to find you, noble 
Liria, when the storm swept me to this isle.” 

You may be sure the heart of the Princess 
leaped when she heard these tidings! 

Forgetting that he was himself but a ship¬ 
wrecked wanderer much in need of aid, the 
Prince, like the brave fellow that he was, could 
think of nothing but of rescuing his lady from 
the dark magician; as for the Princess, she 
could think of naught but the plight of Por¬ 
phyrio, tossed friendless and forlorn upon the 
isle. But at length she shook her head and 
smiled. 

“To-day,” said she, “is mine, and to-morrow 
also; but the Magician has bidden me be pre- 

31 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

pared for the wedding feast by sundown on the 
following day. But, look, the shield of the sun 
breaks the storm clouds close above the waters; 
twilight approaches; the hour of the magician 
is at hand; you must go. Hide yourself well 
to-night, and come to the garden to-morrow 
when the chimes ring thrice. On yon dark 
wall you will find some strangely shaped fruits 
growing; fear not to eat of them when you 
hunger. Liria the Unhappy bids you farewell, 
Prince Porphyrio.” 

“Farewell, Princess,” replied Porphyrio. “Do 
not despair. We shall yet outwit the dark 
Magician!” 

And now the Prince lay hid in the heart of 
a great tree, watching the doors and windows 
of the palace slowly opening in the twilight. 
Suddenly huge bells swung forth in waves of 
heavy sound, strange music played, and the 
thousand windows filled with the magic glow 
of moon-fire. All night long the people of the 

32 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

night held festival; but at the break of dawn the 
silver windows closed slowly on their hinges, 
the music grew faint, and the murmur died 
away. 

On the second afternoon the Prince, in his 
impatience, came early to the shadowy garden. 
The Princess Liria was not to be found, so 
Porphyrio wandered away into the dark alleys 
by the pools. Suddenly he found himself look¬ 
ing at his own reflection in a huge round mirror 
which two marble statues supported between 
them, one at each side. Happening to move a 
little, the Prince discovered that his reflection 
did not move! He lifted an arm, the image re¬ 
mained motionless; he shook his head, the 
mirror gave no sign. Puzzled, Porphyrio left 
the spot, and saw his reflection remaining be¬ 
hind the glass. 

Presently he heard the welcome footsteps of 
Liria. And as the lovers walked and talked and 
discussed plans of escape, the Prince chanced to 
tell of the mirror he had found. Uttering a little 


33 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

gasp of alarm, the Princess cried: “Now we 
are lost indeed! Yon mirror is a mirror of 
memory, and reveals to the Magician the faces 
of those who walk these paths. As soon as he 
sees your reflection therein, — and he gazes in¬ 
to the glass every eve,—his demons will be sent 
in search of you. There is one hope and one only. 

“Go you once more to the sea; follow the cliff 
for a league to the west of the promontory, and 
you will find at its base the opening of an ocean 
cave. When you arrive there the tide will be at 
half-flood, and the entrance will still be visible 
above the waves. Fight your way within and 
climb to the cavern’s height. Little by little the 
rising tide will seal the portal and hide you from 
the search. Make haste, dear Porphyrio, for 
there is not an instant to lose! Oh, that I had 
warned you! ” 

Ragingly angry with himself for being a 
meddlesome fool, Porphyrio hurried down to 
the sea and sought out the cave. Twilight was 
at hand; the tide was rising fast, already the 

34 



The image in the mirror stood still 


































































































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

entrance was almost closed by the sea. Buffeted 
by the breakers and tossed against the cliff as 
he strode, the Prince at length made his way 
into the cave and climbed to a shelf of rock 
above the height of the tide. A few minutes 
later, the water closed the entrance completely, 
thus imprisoning Porphyrio in a hollow dark¬ 
ness through which the ebb and flow of the 
outer sea swept with chuckles and whispering 
laughter. All night long waited Porphyrio in 
the cold, watery dark. 

Toward the end of the Prince’s vigil, the earth 
suddenly shook, the waters hushed, and through 
the silence and the dark Porphyrio heard the 
long thunder of a mighty overthrow. 

“What can that be? ” thought he. 

When the first red rays of the sun streamed 
along the rocky floor of the cave, Porphyrio 
descended from his refuge, and walked out of 
the cave-mouth to the sea. 

Now, as Porphyrio walked along the shore, it 
came to pass that he discerned, deeply embedded 


36 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

in the bluish sands and lashed about with 
ropes of matted weed, the splendid painted 
chest which had lain in his cabin on the 
ship. Its brazen lock, though tarnished by 
the waters, was still highly clasped; but sea 
and stone had broken the wood loose from the 
hasps, and the Prince had little difficulty in 
raising the lid. With a rueful smile he gazed 
down into his robes and fine array lying musty 
and sand-strewn within. There lay his prince’s 
circlet of gold, here his jeweled sword of state, 
here the rich gifts he had meant for the Princess 
Liria. And among these, tucked away in the 
very corner of the chest, Porphyrio found the 
sunbeam he had purchased at the Fair of the 
Golden Bear. 

“Were Liria armed with this,” cried he, “the 
Magician of the Night could not prevail against 
her!” At the thought, a new strength leaped 
in his weary heart, and he hurried along the 
cliff toward the promontory. The storm had 
now cleared away, the ocean thundered and 


37 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

broke into silvery white foam at the foot of 
the blue ramparts, and the Isle of the Night 
raised itself defiantly against a bright and 
royal sun. 

The Magician, however, had not been idle. 
The mirror had told its story; a search had been 
made; a legion of creatures had sought Porphy- 
rio in every corner of the isle. Compelled by the 
approach of dawn to abandon this pursuit, the 
Magician resolved to render the island unap¬ 
proachable from the sea. With a spell of tre¬ 
mendous power he caused the promontory to 
break from the other cliff and fall in scattered 
and monstrous ruin to the beach below. It was 
the thunder of this overthrow which had shaken 
the earth and sounded through the cave. 

As a last precaution, the Magician forbade 
Liria to leave the Palace of the Night, and 
locked and sealed the doors and windows, 
every one. 

Presently the Prince, hastening along the 
beach, came in sight of the ruined headland, 

38 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

and a great fear laid its icy hand on his heart 
as he beheld the triumph of his enemy. How 
was he to reach the headland height? The cliff- 
wall now circled the entire island without a 
break. League after league he trudged, along 
the shore, through the tide, searching, search¬ 
ing for some way to scale the overhanging walls. 
Higher and higher climbed the sun. The shad¬ 
ows fell to the east, the afternoon waned, and 
still Porphyrio had found no path to the top. 
Desperate at last, he attempted to scale the 
steep face of the blue precipice. From ledge to 
ledge, climbing with torn fingers and aching 
arms, struggled the Prince, and presently, his 
further advance barred, fell backward, faint 
and overcome, on a shelf of rock high above 
the sea. 

When his strength returned, he found himself 
close by an eyrie of sea birds brooding on their 
nests in shelves and rifts of the rock. With a 
great clamor of piping and crying the creatures 
rose startled from their nests, so filling the air 


39 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

with wings that Porphyrio closed his eyes. 
Suddenly the master of the eyrie, uttering a 
joyous call, swept down close to the Prince, and 
with an upward surge of his heart Porphyrio 
recognized the winged king whose freedom he 
had purchased at the Fair of the Golden Bear! 
And now the sea birds gathered about the 
Prince, some gathering folds of his garments 
into their talons, others lifting him on broad 
wings, till presently he was borne from the nar¬ 
row ledge and the sound of the sea into the 
splendor and silence of the sky. 

The end of day was at hand. Unveiled of 
any wisp of cloud, the fiery sun lay just above 
the western waters, its lower rim almost rest¬ 
ing on the waves. Once again approached the 
hour of the Magician of the Night. 

The cloud of sea birds flew inland over the 
blue isle, and settled to earth at the very doors 
of the Palace of the Night. And opening his 
arms to them, Porphyrio cried aloud his thanks 
as they wheeled and fled. 


40 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

The Prince walked boldly to the great door, 
and blew a loud blast on the warder’s horn. 
There came no answer to his call. The Palace 
of the Night remained silent and dark. The 
sun’s rim dipped; a little breeze made its way 
from the sea through the mysterious gardens; 
the flowers of the night stirred like sleepers in a 
dream. 

“0 jewel of the sun,” cried Porphyrio, “Give 
me now your aid!” And with these words he 
touched the sunbeam to the lock. A crack re¬ 
sounded, then a shattering crash, and the doors 
swung open wide. Hastening on twixt other 
and other doors and through heavy tapestries, 
Porphyrio at length found himself at the thresh- 
hold of the great hall of the Palace of the Night. 
Rich hangings of dark blue velvet, strewn with 
stars of silver and gold, hung from the giant 
walls; a thousand lamps of pale moon-fire 
swayed on silver chains from the unseen height 
o’erhead; there were huge columns, and dark 
aisles. To one side of the hall, by a silver throne 


41 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

raised upon a dais, stood the Magician of the 
Night, his arms folded on his breast. Proud 
and pale by his side, near a second throne, 
stood the Princess Liria. About them were 
gathered the people of the Night. 

As the doors parted, all turned to gaze at 
Porphyrio. 

Fixing his dark eyes upon the Prince, the 
Magician spake a terrible incantation; but his 
words shattered themselves against the sun¬ 
beam as a threatening wave breaks to drift and 
foam against a crag. 

“Seize him!” commanded the Magician. 

At these words a host of dark beings surged 
about Porphyrio, encircling him, yet afraid to 
attack. Porphyrio took Liria by the hand, and 
led her toward the door. But even as he did so, 
the Magician caused awesome silvery fires to 
bar the outward way. 

At the horizon’s edge, the waters were leaping 
up about the sun. 

Baffled by the flame, Porphyrio, still guarding 

42 


THE PALACE OF THE NIGHT 

Liria, fought his way toward a great stair at 
the very end of the hall. In the wall there, 
barred with silver and shuttered with stone, 
a giant circular window faced the west. And 
now there rose a tumult through the hall, 
and sounds of magic and thunder. Nothing 
daunted, Porphyrio touched the sunbeam to 
the window-bar, and threw the double shutters 
open wide. The sun was yet above the wave, 
sky and water were aflame, and the great tide 
of sunlight swept into the Palace of the Night 
like the music of many trumpets. 

From all within the Palace a great wailing 
cry arose that presently died away. When Por¬ 
phyrio and Liria turned to gaze, the Magician 
and his people had vanished, conquered and 
forever powerless. And the velvet hangings 
were but cobwebs clinging to the walls, and the 
lamps of moon-fire but empty shells. 

Then Porphyrio and Liria walked hand in 
hand to the darkening sea, and beheld there a 
brave merchant-ship which the sea bird was 


43 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

guiding to the isle. You may be sure it did not 
take the jolly mariners long to rescue the lovers 
from the headland! And thus the Prince and 
Princess fared to Liria’s realm, where there their 
marriage was celebrated with the greatest cere¬ 
mony. 

In time Porphyrio became a king and Liria 
a queen, and thus they lived happily ever after. 


44 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

Once upon a time the King of a great country 
had a quarrel with a goblin. Now it chanced 
that the King had the best of the dispute, and 
this so angered the goblin that he departed 
from the realm and cast about for an oppor¬ 
tunity to do a mischief to his foe. 

Now, as the goblin bided his time, it came to 
pass that the King and the Queen, who had 
long been childless, became the proud parents 
of a bouncing baby boy. From rosy summer 
morn to the murmuring quiet of a summer 
night, the whole realm gave itself over to re¬ 
joicing. Bells rang from the towers in cities 
and steeples in the fields, cannon boomed from 
castle towers, and small cakes, each one iced 
with the Prince’s monogram in red and white 
sugar, were distributed by royal command 
among the children of the realm. 

Now it was the custom of the country that 


45 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

the heir to the throne be shown to the assembled 
nobility of the realm on the first day of his 
seventh week in this changing world of ours, 
and presently this day stood at hand upon the 
calendar. 

On the afternoon of the ceremony, the scene 
within the great hall of the palace was magnifi¬ 
cence itself! Assembled by thousands and ten 
thousands, the magnificoes of the land, all in 
ceremonial attire, moved or tried to move 
about; but as the huge hall was crowded to its 
bulging doors, this was difficult, and there 
were, I regret to say, the usual faintings from 
lack of air, cries of protest, bad-tempered 
pushing, caps knocked awry, crumpled ruffs, 
and lost jewels. 

Suddenly the great bell of the palace set up a 
ponderous and solemn booming — the cere¬ 
mony was about to begin! Mercilessly crowd¬ 
ing back the already densely jammed magnifi¬ 
coes on the toes of still other magnificoes, a 
number of gentleman ushers contrived to open 
46 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

an aisle the length of the hall, and when this 
feat had been accomplished, the two tallest 
sergeants in the royal army opened the double 
portals leading forth from the royal drawing¬ 
room. And now, heralded by a great ringing 
peal of golden trumpets, and accompanied by a 
crash of exultant thunder on the palace organ, 
a noble procession slowly advanced through the 
gateway into the hall. The generalissimo of the 
royal armies came first, marching solemnly and 
quite alone, for he was marshal of the occasion ; 
then came trumpeters in green and yellow; then 
a chosen detail of giant grenadiers dressed in 
rose-red and silver-grey; then pages scattering 
flowers from golden baskets; then a little 
space; and then, advancing with the dignity of 
a cloud; appeared the Lord Chancellor, wheel¬ 
ing in the baby. 

Of finest yellow gold were the wheels and push- 
bar of the perambulator, whilst the carriage 
part had been hollowed from a single stupen¬ 
dous opal! Amid a deafening din of huzzas 
47 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

and shouts and bell clangs, the procession 
solemnly advanced to a dais raised at the head 
of the hall. 

Suddenly an invisible shape fluttered in 
through a window, muttered something beside 
the baby’s cradle, uttered a mocking goblin 
laugh, and fled away unperceived and unsus¬ 
pected. 

After wheeling the baby to the centre of the 
dais, the Lord Chancellor gave a signal to the 
trumpeters to break into the national anthem, 
and bent over the cradle to take the infant and 
show him to the throng. To his horror, the 
cradle was empty! The little Prince’s pillow 
was there, the coverlet edged with turquoise, 
and the rattle filled with seed pearls — but 
no baby. 

“The baby! The baby! Where’s the baby? ” 
gulped the Lord Chancellor, scarce able to 
speak. An awkward pause followed: excited 
whispers, conjectures, rumors buzzed through 
the audience. Presently, as the truth began to 
48 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

spread, a growing uproar rocked the hall. Soon 
everybody was busily looking here and there — 
lifting up edges of carpets, poking about behind 
curtains, staring at the ceiling, and examining 
corners. 

All at once a baby’s cry was heard, faint to be 
sure, but quite unmistakable. 

“Search, search, my friends!” cried the King. 
“The Grand Cross of the Order of the Bluebird 
to whosoever discovers my child!” 

The baby’s cry was heard again! Where could 
he be? 

Suddenly a clever young lady-in-waiting, who 
had been searching the opal carriage, uttered a 
piercing shriek. While groping about in the 
perambulator, she had felt the baby, but had 
been unable to see him. Like a sudden crum¬ 
bling of walls, the dreadful truth broke upon 
everyone present. 

The baby had become invisible! 

Invisible he was, and invisible he remained. 
You may well believe that his upbringing was 

49 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

indeed a difficult task! To make matters worse, 
it was soon discovered that not only was the 
Prince himself totally invisible, but also that 
such clothes as touched him became invisible, 
too. One could feel the little Prince, one could 
hear him — and that was all. Thus, if he 
crept away on the nursery floor, one had either 
to grope for him through the clear air, carefully 
feeling here and feeling there, or wait until he 
cried. No wonder the poor Queen was forever 
searching the land for new nurses-in-waiting, 
and forever sending home nurses whose nerves 
had proved unequal to the strain! One could 
never tell what might be happening. 

On one occasion, for instance, the child actual¬ 
ly managed to escape from his nursery to the 
sweeping lawns of the royal palace, and the 
entire national army, working in scout forma¬ 
tion, had to spend the whole afternoon creeping 
about on its hands and knees before the prince 
was found asleep in the shelter of a plum tree. 

Now, when every attempt to undo the spell 

50 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

had failed, it came to pass that the King went 
to visit the Wise Man of Pansophia, a learned 
sage who sat in a wing chair beneath a green 
striped umbrella at the crossroads of the world, 
giving counsel to all comers. This sage was clad 
in the stately folds of a full black gown, a 
round black velvet cap rested on the crown of 
his snow-white head, a broad white beard lay 
spread upon his breast, and on his nose were 
huge round spectacles, over whose edge he 
looked with an air of solemn authority. 

Beginning at the umbrella, an army of ques¬ 
tioners, patiently waiting in single file, stretched 
dozens of miles across the rolling land and dis¬ 
appeared, still unbroken, over the crest of a 
distant hill. These patient folk, it is a pleasure 
to relate, courteously gave way to the unhappy 
King. 

When he had heard the King’s story, the Wise 
Man shook his venerable head, and replied 
in a voice which sounded like the booming of 
waves on a resounding shore: — 

51 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 


“The spell which binds your son is a mighty 
one, and can only be removed by touching him 
with the spell-dispeller, the all-powerful talis¬ 
man given your ancestor, King Decimo, by his 
fairy bride.” 

“Alas,” replied the King, “the spell-dispeller 
was stolen from the royal treasury twenty years 
ago. Could you not tell us who stole it, or 
where it may be found? ” 

“Was it not the only spell-dispeller in the 
whole wide world? ” questioned the Wise Man. 

“It was,” replied the King with a sad, assent¬ 
ing nod. 

“Then it was stolen froln you by the Master 
Thief of the Adamant Mountains,” boomed the 
Wise Man. 

“And perhaps you can tell us where he can be 
found,” said the King. The Wise Man shook 
his head. 

“Ask me where lies the raindrop which fell 
yesterday in the river,” replied the Wise Man, 
“but ask me not where dwells the Master 


52 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

Thief. I do not know. No one knows. But as 
for breaking the spell, it is the spell-dispeller or 
nothing. Would that I could help you more! ” 
And, bidding the King a ceremonious farewell, 
the sage turned his attention to the questioner 
at the head of the long line, a stout peasant- 
fellow whose cottage chimney failed to draw. 
But now you must hear of the Master Thief of 
the Adamant Mountains. 

This mysterious personage, of whom all had 
heard, but whom none had seen, dwelt in a 
secret house in a lost valley of the mountains, a 
house so artfully shaped and so cunningly con¬ 
cealed with vines and branches, that the very 
birds of the air were deceived by it and would 
often come to roost on the chimney, mistaking 
it for a chestnut tree! As for the Master Thief 
himself, a kind of living bean-pole was he, for 
he was taller than the tallest, leaner than the 
leanest, and provided with a pair of long, tire¬ 
less legs which could outrun and outlast the 
swiftest coursers in the land. 


53 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

During the night, he moved through the 
world in a strange garment of pitchy blue- 
black, fitted as close to him as the skin to an 
eel; during the day, he wore a marvelous ves¬ 
ture on which were painted leaves, spots of sun, 
dabs of blue shade, and stripes of earthy brown. 

Now this Master Thief was no ordinary rob¬ 
ber, for he stole not for stealing’s sake, but only 
to gather new rarities for a wonderful museum 
he housed in the caverns under his dwelling. 
Surely there was never such a marvelous 
museum as the museum of the Master Thief! 

Deep in the solemn echoing caves, ticketed 
and labeled each one, and arranged in order, 
shelf on shelf, was to be found the finest speci¬ 
men of everything in the world which men had 
made or loved. The most comfortable chair in 
the world was there, the pointedest pin, the 
warmest blanket, the loudest drum, the sticki¬ 
est glue, the most interesting book, the funniest 
joke, the largest diamond, the most lifelike 
stuffed cat, the handsomest lamp-shade, and 

54 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

a thousand things more. To relabel his col¬ 
lection, to move it about, to do things to it 
and with it was the supreme delight of the 
Master Thief. Seated in the most comfortable 
chair in the world, finger tips together, he 
spent hours gloating on his treasures, and 
wondering if he lacked aught beneath the sun. 
Presently he chanced to hear of the invisible 
baby’s opal perambulator, and instantly de¬ 
termined to add this new wonder to his gallery. 

Going first to his secret den, he spun for him¬ 
self a globe of delicate glass, spoke five words 
into it, and sealed them snug within. Next, he 
attired himself in his parti-colored suit, put the 
globe in his pocket, and fled on his long legs 
over hill and over dale to the royal city. 

Arriving late in the afternoon, he made his 
way without difficulty into the gardens of the 
palace. The day was fair as only a day on the 
threshold of summer may be, and the opal 
perambulator stood unattended in the shade 
of a clump of ancient trees. Magnificently clad, 

55 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

a number of royal nurses were standing about 
the silver fence which enclosed the prince’s 
romping-yard. Far off, in the sunny distance, 
sounded the drums and fifes of the palace 
soldiery. 

And now, creeping nearer unobserved, the 
Master Thief took the crystal globe from his 
pocket and tossed it near the group. Striking 
the ground, the globe burst with the faintest 
crystal tinkle, and the words that the cunning 
Master Thief had sealed within escaped into 
the air. And these words were: — 

Oh, look at the balloon! 

Immediately all the nurses looked to the sky 
to see the imaginary balloon, and while they 
were looking here and looking there, the Master 
Thief sprang to the opal perambulator, re¬ 
leased the brake on the golden wheels, and, 
pushing the carriage ahead of him, ran like 
mad down the flower-bordered alleyways and 
out the garden gates to the highroad. 

Across the landscape in a long straight line 
56 



Over hill f over dale , in a long straight line , fled the Master Thief 
with the golden ‘perambulator 














THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

fled the Master Thief on his wonderful legs, 
pushing the perambulator all the while. Now 
they saw him bouncing it across furrowed 
fields, now they saw it speed like a jeweled boat 
through a sea of waving green grain, now they 
beheld it scattering the silly sheep in the up¬ 
land wilds. 

Presently the bells of the city set up the mad¬ 
dest ringing; foot soldiers were turned out on 
the roads, and squadrons of cavalry were sent 
galloping after; but all in vain — the jeweled 
carriage, blazing in the western glow, sped like 
a meteor over the land. The last they saw of it 
was a moving streak of light along the steep 
slope of a mountain, a light which gleamed for 
a moment on the crest like a large, misplaced, 
and iridescent star, and then swiftly sank 
from view. 

When the Master Thief reached his secret 
haven in the valley, he shouted aloud for tri¬ 
umph, and swiftly wheeled the perambulator 
down to the museum. The most magnificent 


58 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

perambulator in the world! Once more draw¬ 
ing forth the most comfortable chair, the 
Master Thief sank into it and contemplated 
his newest prize. 

Suddenly, a strange sound, half cry, half 
gurgle caused him to sit bolt upright. Had 
someone discovered his secret treasury? What 
could it mean? And now there came a second 
cry which ended in a long protesting wail. 

The Master Thief had stolen the invisible 
baby along with the carriage! 

Now the notion of having to take care of a 
baby, of any baby, was a matter which might 
well alarm the Master Thief; but as for an 
invisible baby, that was indeed a trial! All at 
once, however, the Master Thief slapped his 
knee and chuckled for joy — he had thought 
of the spell-dispeller! Holding aloft the bright¬ 
est lantern in the world, the robber made his 
way to the little side-cavern in which he had 
placed the talisman. 

His heart jumped. The spell-dispellerwas gone! 

59 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Baffled and perplexed, the Master Thief began 
a nervous search of the little cavern; but never 
a sign of the spell-dispeller could he find. Vow¬ 
ing not to restore the Prince till he had found 
the talisman and tested its power, the Master 
Thief at length abandoned the search and 
carried the Prince through the caverns to his 
dwelling. 

And now days passed, and months passed, 
and even years, without bringing to light the 
spell-dispeller. From an invisible infant the 
Prince grew to be an invisible boy, whose 
merry voice and friendly presence played about 
the house of the Master Thief like a capful of 
summer wind on a mountain lake. 

Heigho, but after all it was n’t so bad to be 
invisible! One could see things and find things 
hidden away from all other mortals; one could 
climb to the side of a bird’s nest, sit still, and 
watch the mother bird feed her young; one 
could dive, unseen, into the clear, cold pools of 
60 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 
the mountain streams and pinch the lurking 
trout by their rippling tails; one could follow 
the squirrel to his secret granary! 

Now, during the Prince’s fifteenth year, it 
came to pass that the Master Thief suddenly 
became ashamed of his wicked ways, so ashamed 
indeed that he resolved not only to forgo fur¬ 
ther collecting but also to return every single 
thing he had stolen! The invisible Prince, I am 
glad to tell you, was of the greatest possible 
service to the Master Thief in this honest task. 
And now, all over the kingdoms of the world, 
people began to find their stolen possessions 
waiting for them when they came down to 
breakfast in the morning: the stuffed cat be¬ 
came once more the pride of the Blue Tower, 
the most interesting book went back to its 
place on the shelves of the royal library, the 
golden scroll of the funniest joke appeared as if 
by magic on the wall of the king’s own room. 
Alas for human waywardness, there were actu¬ 
ally people who had grown so accustomed to the 
61 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 


loss of their belongings that they reviled the 
Master Thief for their return. Dreadful to re¬ 
late, — the style having changed, — the hand¬ 
somest lamp-shade was actually tossed in a 
well! 

At the end of the fifth year, the opal peram¬ 
bulator and the invisible Prince were the only 
two stolen things left to return. The invisible 
youth was twenty years old. With a sorrowful 
heart, for the youth was as dear to him as a 
son, the repentant Master Thief began prep¬ 
arations to restore prince and perambulator 
to the unhappy parents. 

Now it came to pass that, on the morning of 
departure, the Master Thief descended for the 
last time to the forlorn and dusty corridors of 
his great museum and walked about the gal¬ 
leries, leaving footprints in the dust and musing 
on the glories that had been. Here had stood 
the shiniest rubber-plant, here the most beauti¬ 
ful hat-rack, here the only eraser which had 
never rubbed a hole in the paper. A tear gath- 
62 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

ered in his eye. He had loved them; he had 
stolen them; he had restored them; he was free! 

All at once his glance, roving empty shelves, 
fell on a tiny box wedged in a sombre corner. 
With a loud shout of joy, the Master Thief 
recognized the spell-dispeller! It had fallen be¬ 
hind a shelf and had lain there concealed for 
almost twenty years! Thrusting it into his 
pocket’s depth, the Master Thief bounded up 
the secret stairs to the joy of the sun. 

After a pleasant rambling journey in a huge 
coach, the Master Thief and the invisible Prince 
reached the city at the twilight hour, and took 
lodgings at a quiet, comfortable inn. The in¬ 
visible Prince, I must remind you, was still 
invisible. 

Now it came to pass that when supper had 
been served and eaten, the Master Thief and the 
invisible Prince went for a stroll through the 
royal city. Much to the surprise of the travel¬ 
ers, they found the city hung with streamers 
and bunting of the gayest kind. Stranger still, 
63 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

in spite of this display, the citizens of the royal 
city appeared to be particularly out of spirits. 

“Good host,” said the Master Thief to the 
landlord of the inn, “pray what means this air 
of jubilee? Do you make merry for some 
kingly festival?” 

“A festival, yes,” replied the host, looking 
about to see if anyone were listening, “festival 
it is, but only in name. Have you not heard 
the news? Let us walk a little to one side and I 
will tell you the story. 

“Three years ago our gracious sovereign, the 
good King Valdoro the Fourth—weary of the 
cares of state and still stricken to the heart by 
the loss of his son, the invisible Prince of whom 
you may have heard — gave over the guidance 
of the kingdom to the Marquis Malicorn. Last 
week this official made himself master of the 
royal power, imprisoned our dear King and 
Queen in a dark tower, and proclaimed him¬ 
self successor to the throne. The coronation 
is to be held to-morrow afternoon in the great 

64 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

hall of the royal palace. Alas for the people 
and the nation! Oh, if the invisible Prince 
would only return! ” 

To this the Master Thief nodded his head, 
his busy brain plotting all the while. All at 
once he smiled. He had devised a plan. 

And now it was once more the great hall of the 
castle, and once more a sunny afternoon. Bells 
rang, but their cry was wingless and leaden, 
and there was a dull and joyless note in the can¬ 
non’s roar. Crowded as densely together as ever 
they were twenty years before, the magnificoes 
sullenly awaited the arrival of the usurper and 
his train. 

Presently the portals were once more swept 
apart, revealing Malicorn and his followers. 
Not a sound rose from the assembly. 

Growling for rage beneath a huge pair of 
dragoon’s whiskers, the wicked Marquis made 
his way to the dais and the coronation chair. 
The noise of bells and cannon ceased. An offi¬ 
cial in blue advanced with the royal robe. 


65 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Just as he was about to throw it over the 
waiting shoulders of the usurper, an invisible 
something snatched the robe from him and, 
lo, it melted into the air! 

Exceedingly angry, yet disturbed at heart, 
Malicorn hoped for better luck with the sceptre, 
but this, too, was snatched by an invisible 
hand. As for the royal crown, it vanished from 
its purple cushion in the twinkling of an eye. 

Speechless with rage, Malicorn now rose to 
his feet, and stood before the throne, glaring 
about into the air. Cries of defiance, mingled 
with shouts of derision, rose from among the 
magnificoes. And now, even as the turmoil was 
at its height, the Master Thief, who had been 
concealed behind some curtains, strode boldly 
forth to the dais, thrust Malicorn aside with 
a sweep of his long arms, and shouted to the 
audience: — 

“Magnificoes of the Realm, you came to see 
your King. Your rightful King is here. Would 
you behold him?” 


66 


THE ENCHANTED BABY 

“Yes!” shouted the assembly in one voice. 
And now the Master Thief touched the invisible 
Prince with the spell-dispeller. 

The instant he did so a flash of deep golden 
light set everyone blinking, fairy music was 
heard, and suddenly the invisible Prince stood 
visible before the throne. He was tall, dark¬ 
haired, brown-eyed, and a bit slim, and the 
crown was on his head, the robe on his shoul¬ 
ders, and the sceptre in his hand. 

And now the bells and cannon began to boom 
in real earnest, and a gay breeze came sweeping 
in to toss the flags and banners that had hung 
so still. Overcome by emotion, the generalis¬ 
simo seized the Lord Chancellor by the waist 
and swung him into a jig, the soldiers all tossed 
their caps into the air and cheered like mad, 
whilst the organist became so excited that he 
began to play two tunes at once. Everybody 
was laughing and hallooing and hurrahing. 

As for Malicorn and his crew, they were 
tumbling out the back door as fast as their 
67 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

legs could carry them, and nobody has seen 
them from that day to this. 

Presently the old King and the Queen, re¬ 
leased from the dark tower, came hurrying in to 
greet their son. 

“He resembles you, my dear,” whispered the 
King to the Queen. 

The Master Thief was forgiven everything. 
Singing and rejoicing, the people of the city 
poured from the houses into the sunny streets. 

Clang, clang! Boom! Clang, clang! Boom, 
boom! Boom! Boom! 

And they all lived happily ever after. 


68 


THE TWO MILLERS 

Once upon a time, in a pleasant country of 
meadows sweeping seaward from wooded inland 
heights, there were two millers and two mills. 
If you came to the country in a ship, you saw 
the windmill first, for it was built upon a 
tongue of land rising above the wide salt 
meadows and the washing midnight-tides; 
but if you came to the country by the land, it 
was the water mill you saw, for it stood beside 
the highway in the valley of a brooklet rush¬ 
ing to the sea. 

Now the wind-miller, who was a great tall 
man with blue eyes and fair hair, had a daugh¬ 
ter named Cecily, whilst the water-miller, who 
was a little nimble man with a red face and 
crisp, black curls, had a son named Valen¬ 
tine. And because both the millers were merry 
men, and there was a plenty of grain for both 
the mills to grind, these millers were excellent 

69 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

cronies, and the maiden Cecily had been be¬ 
trothed to the young man Valentine. 

Every eve, when the day’s task at the water 
mill had been brought to an end, the gates low¬ 
ered, and the brooklet turned free to rush 
unhindered down the glen, Valentine would 
walk from his wooded hills to the headland by 
the sea, and call at the mill for Cecily. The 
nights were often still, and the golden shield of 
the moon, rising over the hilly woods, gleamed 
upon the curling foam of the little long waves, 
and filled their glassy hollows with her light. 

Now it befell that as Valentine and Cecily 
walked by the shore on such a night, they 
heard from the hollow of the hills a faint and 
far-off rumble like the echoing of thunder. Such 
mysterious sounds were forever rising in the 
hills, and because no one could tell whence they 
came, a legend had grown up that somewhere 
in the forest depths there dwelt a hidden some¬ 
one, known as the Husbandman of the Hills. 

“Listen, Valentine,” said Cecily, “the Hus- 

70 


THE TWO MILLERS 

bandman of the Hills is closing the door of his 
barn. Think you that some day a mortal may 
find him in his hiding-place in the hills? ” 

“But suppose it were naught but an idle 
tale? ” said the merry youth, with a smile. 

“Ohno,Valentine,’’said the maiden seriously. 
“All my life long have I dwelt here on the shore, 
and heard the mysterious echoes from the hills. 
Sometimes the sound is of the lowing of cattle, 
sometimes of the threshing of grain, sometimes 
’t is the creaking of a hay wain in a field. And 
always the old and wise tell of the Husbandman 
of the Hills. Some day a mortal will find the 
hidden Husbandman — do you but wait and 
see.” 

It was the early summer now, and all went 
merry as a marriage bell. The heavy water¬ 
wheel turned with a rolling thunder and a 
sound of endless splashing; and the four arms 
of the windmill spun with a windy thrum and 
a clock-like clack from the rising of the wind 
to the calm of sundown and the eve. 


71 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

And now, alas, events were at hand which 
were to shatter the plans of the two millers and 
wreck the hopes of Cecily and Valentine! 

At the close of the harvest-tide, the Princess 
Celestia, only daughter of the King and Queen 
of the country, was going to be married. Now 
it chanced that the Queen, her mother, was 
famous in the land as a maker of cake, and 
presently this good lady promised her daughter 
a wedding cake so splendid and delicious that 
painters would beg to be allowed to paint its 
portrait, and poets to praise it in glorious and 
immortal song. 

Yes, the Queen would make the cake with 
her own white hands, the batter should be 
mixed in a golden bowl with a golden spoon, 
the two best hens in the kingdom should be 
summoned to lay the eggs, the oven should 
have a door of diamonds, and as for the flour, 
that should come from the finest fields and the 
best mill in all the land. 

“I know what I ’ll do; I ’ll offer a rich reward 


72 


THE TWO MILLERS 

for the best flour,” said the good Queen. And 
calling the royal herald to her presence, she 
bade him summon all good millers to strive 
for the prize, and to bring of their new flour to 
the palace at the close of the harvest yield. 

Now it chanced that the Queen’s herald, all 
dressed in blue-and-white and sounding a silver 
horn, came cantering first to the water-miller’s 
door. 

“I should like to win that treasure,” said the 
water-miller to himself, musing in the doorway. 
“After all, my flour is better than the wind- 
miller’s meal. That treasure should be mine, 
must be mine. Yes, mine, mine, mine!” 

Now it was the custom of the country for 
millers to visit the farms in midsummer, view 
the growing, green grain, and bargain with the 
husbandmen for the yield of the tossing fields. 
Suddenly the water-miller, coveting the treas¬ 
ure, determined to purchase all the standing 
grain, so that the wind-miller should not have 
any good grain to grind! And this he did, 
73 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

forgetting the while that the deed was sharp 
and unfriendly. 

A day or two passed, and presently the wind- 
miller climbed to the saddle of his fat white 
steed, and rode away to buy his customary 
grain. Alas, there was none to be had. Every 
turn of the road disclosed new fields of grain, 
but every single ear was pledged to the miller 
by the brook! 

At first — I must tell you — the wind-miller 
was more hurt than angry at his old crony’s 
trickery; but the more he thought of it the 
angrier he grew. Storming about the windmill 
in a rage, he gave a great roar for Cecily, and 
when the frightened maiden appeared before 
him, he bade her dismiss all thoughts of Val¬ 
entine from her heart, and consider herself for¬ 
tunate to be rid of the son of such a father. 

The water-miller, however, was not to be out¬ 
done. The moment he heard of the wind- 
miller’s wrath, he too fell into a rage, and pres¬ 
ently forbade Valentine, on pain of dismissal, 

74 


THE TWO MILLERS 

so much as to look at the maiden Cecily. 

And now the youth and the maiden were very 
sad indeed, for in spite of the strife between 
their fathers, they continued to love each other 
very much. Presently Valentine could endure 
it all no more, and stole away one night to 
have a word with Cecily. 

The mill brook was babbling in the dark when 
Valentine returned to the mill, and a single 
light was burning in a window by the door. 
Opening the portal gently, the youth pres¬ 
ently discovered his father seated on the stair 
clad in a flowered nightcap and a long white 
dressing-gown. 

“Valentine,” said the water-miller in a voice 
deep as the bottom of a well, “where have you 
been?” 

“I’ve been to the windmill to see Cecily,” 
said Valentine truthfully and bravely. 

“Sirrah!” cried the water-miller, shaking 
with such temper that his flowered nightcap 
trembled on his head. “Did I not forbid you 

75 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

to go to the windmill, on pain of being turned 
away from this my house? Go!” And the 
angry water-miller pointed a level finger out 
into the night. 

“But,’father,” protested Valentine. 

“But me no buts,” thundered the miller. 
“Go, sirrah, for this house is yours no more.” 

“But whither, father?” asked bewildered 
Valentine. 

“That, sirrah, is your affair,” replied the 
angry miller. “Go anywhere you please; go 
find the Husbandman of the Hills!” 

And with this last bit of advice, the wrathful 
water-miller pushed his son out of the mill and 
drew the long, grinding bolt across the door. 
A moment later the single light went out, and 
the mill was dark. 

And now Valentine, in search of shelter for the 
night, sought out a farm in the gloom of the 
wooded hills. Leaving the broad white road, he 
followed first a country lane, then a pathway 
winding through a great woodsy mire, and then 


76 


THE TWO MILLERS 

another lane, softly carpeted with moss and 
last year’s fallen leaves. 

A star fell from the twinkling heavens; a 
hunting owl hooted in a tree. Ever so far 
away a silver bell struck the midnight hour. 

Suddenly Valentine knew that he had followed 
a strange path, and was lost in the heart of the 
hills. It was a very strange path indeed, for the 
trees and the brambles along it seemed to have 
grown together in the dark, and pressed for¬ 
ward to form a thick imprisoning wall. 

Uneasy at heart, the youth now turned to re¬ 
trace his steps, only to see that the same mys¬ 
terious trees had risen up behind! 

Hours passed. Stars that were high in the 
heavens vanished over treetops in the east, a 
silvery dawn began to pale, and there were 
chirps and stirs and peeps and feathery noises 
in the wood. At the rising of the sun, Valen¬ 
tine arrived at the farm of the Husbandman of 
the Hills. 

Now the Husbandman of the Hills — I must 


77 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

tell you — was the farmer of the fairies. It was 
from this farm in the hills that the goblins of 
the mountain-tops, the elves of the silver riv¬ 
er, and the peoples of the fairy kingdoms of 
the world had their apples and clotted cream, 
their cherries and plums, and their butter-pats 
stamped with a crown. 

The fairy farm lay in a green vale, magically 
walled about with briery trees. Only at the 
midnight minute could the wall be passed, and 
Valentine had chanced to cross it at the sixth 
stroke of the bell. 

And now Valentine found himself made wel¬ 
come by the Husbandman and his lady, the 
Goodwife of the Hills. The Husbandman was 
old; his face was ruddy and his hair silvery 
white, and in a smock of blue with a white col¬ 
lar was he clad. His spouse was elderly too, and 
wore a gown of green with short old-fashioned 
sleeves, a white housekeeper’s-apron, and a cap 
with ribbons and frills. 

I wish I had time to tell you of how the long 
78 


THE TWO MILLERS 

summer passed at the farm of the fairies — 
of the brewing, the baking, and the churning; 
and of how the green elves came to cut the 
grain with silver scythes no longer than your 
arm; of how a very young giant, who had a 
pleasant smile and was as tall as a tree, came 
to pitch the hay into the barn; of how the 
orchard goblins came to gather the wonderful 
apples into baskets of silver and gold; and of 
the enchanted bear who wore yellow spectacles 
and turned the butter churn. 

Presently the leaves, though green, began to 
rustle dryly on the trees, and Valentine began 
to long for his own again. 

“You have been a faithful laborer,” said the 
old Husbandman of the Hills. “A reward is 
yours. What shall it be? ” 

“But I seek no reward,” said Valentine, “for 
you gave me shelter, when shelter I had none.” 

“A brave answer,” said the old Husbandman 
with a smile. ‘ ‘ But you have earned your wage, 
good friend. I ’ll give you a wish. Be in no 
79 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

haste to use it. And guard it well!” 

And now Valentine turned from the vale, 
passed the magic bound at midnight, and found 
himself once more in an old, familiar pathway 
of the wood. 

The autumn had been a rainless one, and the 
water-miller was having forty fits. 

The mill brook was running dry! 

Already there was scarce water enough to stir 
the heavy wheel. Another week without rain, 
and the bed of the brook would be naught but 
a length of puddles and pools. And the fine gold¬ 
en grain he had purchased was being threshed 
and winnowed, and would soon be arriving at 
the mill! 

In and out of the door of the mill, a hundred 
times a day went the water-miller, now to stare 
at the vanishing brook, now to sweep the sky 
in hope of rain. But the dry leaves only rustled 
more dryly, and the sun was bright. 

Worse yet, the Princess Celestia’s wedding 
80 


THE TWO MILLERS 


day was fast approaching, and the Queen would 
soon be calling for her flour. And sure enough, 
the Queen’s herald presently rode again through 
the land, summoning all good millers to bring 
of their new flour to the palace before sundown 
on the seventh day. 

The following week was indeed an anxious 
one for the miller by the brook. Alas for his 
fortunes — not a single drop of rain fell either 
in the meadows or the hills, and the brook ran 
dry. You might as well have tried to turn the 
wheel with a pitcher of water as to turn it with 
the trickle which remained. 

On the night of the sixth day, the water- 
miller, humbled in heart, rode over to the wind¬ 
mill to make his peace and ask a boon. He 
would ask the wind-miller to grind the wonder¬ 
ful golden grain, and offer him half of the grain 
as a reward. 

Now the wind-miller had not forgotten the 
water-miller’s trickery; so he received his 
old crony with anything but a friendly air. 

81 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

“Grind grain for you, sir?” said the wind- 
miller, standing with arms akimbo and feet 
apart, “yes, sir; but only on one condition, 
sir, and that is, sir, that you let me choose my 
half of the grain, sir. 

“And hearken, sir, one thing more, sir. You 
must bring the grain to the windmill this very 
night, sir.” 

Now it came to pass that, as the water-miller, 
hanging his head, went out into the night, 
Cecily saw him, and ran to ask him for news 
of Valentine. But the water-miller was himself 
troubled because of the absence of his son, and 
could give no new tidings to the maid. 

Groaning many a regretful groan, the water- 
miller loaded his fine two-wheeled scarlet cart 
with sacks of golden grain, and carried it to the 
windmill door. It was a warm night. The water- 
miller unloaded the sacks, mopped his brow 
with a red bandanna handkerchief, and sighed. 

What a fool he had been not to play fair! 
What a fool to send away his son! 


82 


THE TWO MILLERS 

When the water-miller had driven away, the 
triumphant wind-miller took a great iron lan¬ 
tern, and went down to see the grain. For a 
moment or two he stood motionless, chuckling 
at his unexpected victory. Presently he called 
to Cecily to gather all the lights and candles 
she could find, and place them round about. 

And now, toiling in a great blaze of candle- 
fight, the wind-miller slowly and carefully sifted 
out for himself the better half of the wonderful 
grain. The remaining half — which was good 
enough, but full of husks and dust — he set 
apart for his rival. 

The dawn was breaking as he finished the task. 
Some of the candles were burned out, and the 
lanterns were smoke-begrimed and dim. Wearily 
rubbing the grain-dust from his eyes, the wind- 
miller trudged up the circular stair and tum¬ 
bled into bed. He would grind the grain into 
flour as soon as he woke in the morn. 

And on that same still, autumn dawn young 
Valentine came out of the fairy wood. 


83 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

When the wind-miller woke, he woke with a 
start, for he had slept late, and the sun was 
high. How warm and misty-moisty it was! 
Good heavens — there was n’t a breath of 
wind! 

A ship drifted becalmed upon the glassy sea; 
a blue haze of wavy summer heat lay upon the 
meadows, and over the wooded hills hung a 
motionless mass of bluish cloud with a rim of 
silvery white. There was not even air enough to 
stir a dead leaf hanging by a thread. 

In and out of the door of the mill, like one 
distracted ran the miller; he stood upon the 
balcony and stared about at the sky, the greeny- 
leaden sea, and the helpless ship; he lifted a 
moistened finger to the air. 

Oh, for a wind! 

And now a ship’s bell in the mill struck the 
eight strokes of high noon, and presently the 
water-miller came hurrying to the mill in his 
scarlet cart. A moment’s glance at the two 
halves of golden grain told him of the wind- 


84 



He lifted a moistened finger to the air. Good heavens — there was n*t 
a breath of wind ! 


































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

miller’s counterstroke, and he ran upstairs into 
the mill room full of wrath. 

“I brought you my grain to grind,” he shouted 
at the wind-miller, “and you have not done so. 
I shall take it all back again, do you hear?” 

“Wait; you made a bargain with me,” an¬ 
swered the wind-miller. 

“I tell you I am done with the bargain,” cried 
out the water-miller in a passion. 

“I tell you a bargain’s a bargain,” shouted 
the wind-miller. * ‘ Touch yon grain if you dare! ” 

And now, I am sure, the old friends and cronies 
would have come to blows, had not Valentine 
and Cecily suddenly hurried and rushed be¬ 
tween them. 

“Good sirs,” said honest Valentine, “pray 
you stand apart and do each other no wrong. 
The brook is dry; the wind is gone; of what use 
then is this disputed grain? Were it not best, 
mayhap, to begin anew? ” 

“Dear father,” said pretty Cecily, “Will you 
give your share of the grain to me? ” 


86 


THE TWO MILLERS 


“With all my heart,” said the wind-miller, 
who hated brawling. 

“And will you give your share to me, father? ” 
asked Valentine. 

“Yes, and gladly,” said the water-miller. 

“Heart’s thanks to you both, good sirs,” 
said the youth with a bow and the maid with a 
courtesy. “And now,” continued Valentine, 
“you shall all behold a great wonder. 

“0 Husbandman of the Hills, you gave me 
a wish for a wage. Grant it to me now! I wish 
for a fine windmill-wind to blow till sundown 
of this day.” 

Out of the hills came the wind. It swept up an 
inland dust, it sent the leaves on the higher 
crests a-flying, it rushed over the. hot sea- 
scented meadows, it surged about the mill — 
and the great arms gathered it, creaked, 
groaned, and began a-spinning. 

Valentine poured a shower of grain down an 
oaken slide into the grinding thunder of the 
heavy stones. The grain fell between the upper 

87 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

and the nether wheel, and presently the finest 
of new flour was pouring down below. And this 
new flour the three millers shook and sifted 
and cleansed until it was worthy of the Queen’s 
own hands, the golden batter-bowl, and the 
Princess Celestia’s cake. So wonderful indeed 
was the flour, that it instantly gained the rich 
reward the Queen had offered as a prize, and 
won for Valentine the appointment of miller 
to the King. 

Touched by the happiness of their children, 
I am glad to say, the two millers agreed to forget 
their strife. And they shook hands, and became 
cronies again. 

On the day following the wedding of the Prin¬ 
cess Celestia, Valentine and Cecily were married. 
The little Princess sent them two thick slices of 
her cake. It was as white as snow, and frosted 
with sugar, and there were candied plums, and 
cherries, and citron nibbles in each slice. 

And Valentine and Cecily rejoiced, and lived 
happily together all their days. 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 


Once upon a time, on a fine spring morning, 
a country lad named Hugh took his fish pole 
from a corner and went to try his luck in a 
brook beside the road. Now it fortuned that 
as he stood upon the grassy bank, casting 
about in the broad shallows of the stream, the 
boy heard the mighty sound of many men sing¬ 
ing together, and presently he beheld a regi¬ 
ment of soldiers on the march. In uniforms of 
red-and-white they were clad, and an officer in 
red-and-white and gold was riding at their 
head. 

And now the regiment came to a halt, and 
broke ranks beside the brook. With shouts 
and cries the young soldiers hurried to the 
water, opened their gay coats at the throat, 
and washed the dust from their sunburnt faces; 
the sergeants gathered and gossiped by them¬ 
selves ; the horse of the guiding officer sucked up 
89 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

great mouths of water, looked about, and blew 
the spray from his nostrils; and here and there 
a man helped a comrade with his pack. 

“How splendid it must be to be a soldier!” 
thought Hugh as he gazed upon the merry 
company. And, hurrying home to his mother 
as fast as his legs could carry him, he begged 
so eagerly for permission to enlist, that at 
length he won her consent and followed the 
marching men. 

And now the lad Hugh was himself a soldier 
of the realm with a red-and-white uniform like 
unto the others, a pack for his back, and a 
shiny leather hat with a shiny silver star. Soon 
he knew what it was to lie upon the ground 
and shiver in a blanket, and to watch the roll¬ 
ing stars, and hear the night wind cry. 

Now it chanced that there was another young 
soldier of Hugh’s age enlisted in the company, 
and with this lad, whose name was Jocelyn, 
Hugh presently became the best of friends. 
This Jocelyn was a mountaineer and was slender 


90 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

and yellow-haired; whilst Hugh was a lad of 
the plain and was sturdy of frame and dark. 
And because these two lads were the youngest 
of the company and were loyal friends, they 
marched down the highway side by side and 
shared together the good and ill of life. 

Now it came to pass upon a summer’s night, 
as the soldiers lay encamped in fields by the 
royal city, that the great bell of the King’s 
palace broke the quiet of the stars with a loud 
and unending clangor of alarm. It was late, 
the watch fires had almost burned away, and 
the soldiers, waking in the dark, seized upon 
their arms and wondered at the din. All at 
once, with a thunder of hoofs, a messenger from 
the city came spurring in with the news that 
war was at hand, and that the regiment must 
break camp on the instant and speed to the 
borders of the realm. Presently fresh branches 
tossed upon the embers filled the camp with 
the light of flames, and bugle calls rang through 
the tumult and the clanging of the bell. 


91 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Left! Right! Left! Right! And the soldiers 
were marching to the wars. They came to 
ancient hamlets in the night, and found soldiers 
of other companies already sleeping in the 
barns; they marched through lonely forests, 
and warmed their noonday meal with a blaze 
of twigs and fallen boughs; they marched sing¬ 
ing through the fields of golden grain. Soon 
the villages and the fields grew rare, a silence 
fell upon the land, and the regiment found itself 
at the edge of a vast and lonely moor. Regi¬ 
ments without number were there encamped, 
and their bivouac fires gleamed at night like a 
thousand scattered stars. 

Leagues away, on barren hills rising to the 
north, were to be seen the fires of the foe. 

And now it was the morn of battle: a red sun 
was rising above the brown hills and hollows 
of the moor, the air was sluggish, and flat gray 
clouds lay motionless and low. Tarantara! 
Tarantara! went the bugles, regiment after 
regiment came marching to its post, the plain 

92 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

shook to the tramp of feet, the horsemen gath¬ 
ered behind, the drums began to sound, the 
men in red-and-white marched down to the 
moor, and presently the great hollow of the 
waste rang like a brazen cup with the beginning 
tumult of the fray. 

The soldiers of the enemy were clad in black- 
and-white, and wore shiny leather hats with 
shiny golden stars. 

The young comrades marched into battle side 
by side. And even as a branch, thrust gently 
from the bank of a racing river, first moves 
slowly in calm waters by the edge of the stream 
and then is caught up and tossed about by the 
wild mid-torrent, so did the great tide of the 
battle catch up Jocelyn and Hugh. They fought 
as in a dream, scarce knowing what they did. 

Now it came to pass that, at the storming of 
a grassy hillock of the moor, Hugh was taken 
prisoner by the men in black-and-white, but 
was bravely rescued by Jocelyn who fought 
his way undaunted to his side. Presently the 
93 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

enemy yielded the disputed hill, and the com¬ 
pany in red-and-white made ready to hold it 
for their own. 

The day waned; a tide of dark and threatening 
cloud rose over the horizon to the east, and a 
cold wind rode before it, bringing rain. All at 
once a wild and terrible storm burst over the 
battle on the moor; and, under cover of the 
thunder and confusion, the men in black-and- 
white strove to regain the hillock for their own. 
A bellowing wind whipped the heavy rain in 
the soldiers’ eyes, and it was very hard to see. 

Now it fortuned that, in the dark of the storm 
and the tumult of the fray, the boy Hugh be¬ 
came separated from his comrades and sud¬ 
denly found himself out of the battle, and wan¬ 
dering quite alone. Night was rushing on, the 
din of the combat was muffled in the roaring 
of the rain, and the young soldier scarce knew 
where to go. 

Now it was his duty to return to the battle, 
seek out his comrades, and fight beside them 

94 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

to the end. Alas, so weary and shaken was 
the soldier lad that he made no effort to re¬ 
turn to his hard-pressed friends, but fled away 
from the battle through the dark! Presently 
the all but roofless ruin of a shepherd’s hut 
appeared ahead, and Hugh took refuge within 
it from the battle and the storm. 

All night long he lay there on the stones of 
the floor, sunken in a shivering sleep; but the 
dawn woke him at last, and he crept to a window 
to look forth upon the moor. 

All was still. The battle was lost. The men 
in black-and-white were encamped upon the 
nearer hillocks of the moor, and a company of 
their horse was guarding a square of some hun¬ 
dred men in white-and-red. 

Suddenly the runaway soldier heard the 
beat of a distant drum and, gazing through 
a cranny of the ruined house, beheld a num¬ 
ber of prisoners marching by, forlorn. A trium¬ 
phant dragoon in black-and-white was riding 
at their head; the drummer of his own company 
95 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

followed close behind, mournfully beating his 
drum; and then, trudging wearily on, appeared 
the good comrades whom he had deserted in 
their need. And Jocelyn walked among them 
bareheaded, with his arms tied behind him at 
the wrist. 

And now the dark waters of sorrow and shame 
welled up in the heart of the runaway soldier, 
and he wept bitterly that he had failed to return 
into the fray. He would have leaped from the 
house and taken his place with his comrades, 
save that he could not bear that they should 
know of his flight. 

Now it came to pass, when the drum-beats 
had faded into the silence of the moor, that 
Hugh discovered a shepherd’s smock and wide- 
brimmed hat hanging on a peg, and abandoned 
his uniform for these. Thus clad, he fled from 
the hut in the dead of night and made his es¬ 
cape across the moor. Because of the triumph 
of the enemy, he dared not return into his own 
land, but fled to a kingdom in the west. 


96 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

Presently he came upon a village lying at the 
foot of a hill crowned with a ruined tower, and 
there took service in the harvest fields. 

As for Jocelyn and his comrades, they were 
marched into the enemy’s country, thrust into 
dungeons, and held for ransom, one and all. 

Now it fortuned that one noontide, as Hugh 
rested with fellow laborers in the greenwood 
shade, he asked them of the ruined castle on 
the hill. 

“Yon castle,” said a big harvester with an 
important air, “was built centuries ago by an 
old knight who was known throughout the 
land as a magician. A treasure lies hid within, 
but none dare seek it; for those who do —” 

“Never come back!” croaked another har¬ 
vester, a little lean man with thin legs and large 
red ears. 

“Once there was a brave adventurer who went 
to seek the treasure,” said a man with long, 
uncut locks and a pointed nose. “We watched 


97 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 
him climb the hill, we saw him enter the castle, 
and all at once we heard — ” 

“A terrible yell!” said the big harvester and 
the red-eared man together. 

“And he never came back,” said somebody 
else, shaking his head. 

“Bless us,” cried Hugh, “but what do you 
suppose it is that guards the treasure?” 

“Well, if you ask me, I ’ll tell you,” said the 
big harvester; “it’s a trigorgon.” 

“A trigorgon? ” questioned Hugh. “And pray, 
sir, what is a trigorgon?” 

“A trigorgon is a creature that has only three 
legs,” continued the big harvester. “It’s tri¬ 
angular and flattish, the one leg being at the 
front under the long neck, the two legs riding 
behind. Short, thick, elephant-like legs, body 
like a turtle, double rows of teeth, violent dis¬ 
position. I’ve read of it in a book.” 

“Bother your book,” cried red-ears. “The 
trigorgon you describe, my good sir, is quite 
impossible. A trigorgon has its two legs in 
98 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 


front, and its one leg behind. A neck has got 
to have shoulders to rest on, has n’t it? 
You see, young man, the trigorgon uses its 
one hind leg to push itself ahead at a frightful 
speed. I know!” 

“How do you know? ” asked the big harvester 
with some displeasure. 

“Because the seventh son of a seventh son’s 
great-grandmother told me!” exclaimed red- 
earis triumphantly. 

“Bother your seventh son’s great-grand¬ 
mother!” shouted the big harvester. “Now, 
my book had large print and most wonder¬ 
ful pictures!” 

“Pish!” said red-ears. 

“Tush for you and your seventh son of a 
seventh son’s great-gran — ” 

“My friends! My friends!” interposed 
pointed-nose. “Why quarrel over this absurd 
trigorgon? You are both wrong. The castle is 
haunted by a thith, a terribly, dangerous thith. 
All over the land they say it’s a thith.” 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

“Who say? ” questioned the big harvester. 

“They say,” replied pointed-nose. 

“Bother they, and all they say,” shouted the 
big harvester, forgetting his grammar. “It’s 
a trigorgon!” 

“It’s a thith!” shrieked pointed-nose. 

And now began a tremendous uproar in 
which everybody took part, some agreeing with 
the big harvester, some with red-ears, and some 
with pointed-nose. A few who disbelieved in 
both the trigorgon and the thith stood dis¬ 
dainfully to one side, but suddenly they too 
began to quarrel violently among themselves 
as to whether the castle was haunted by a 
mistophant, a winged bogus, a bristly whiske- 
roarer or an ugsome vrish. So bitter grew the 
strife that presently red-ears and pointed-nose 
fell to fisticuffs and were separated with great 
difficulty by their fellow-harvesters. 

“A treasure! ” said Hugh to himself. “Ah, if I 
could but find it, I would ransom Jocelyn and 
the comrades.” And with an uneasy heart, he 
100 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

thought of the trigorgon, the thith, the winged 
bogus, the snarling whiskeroarer, the misto- 
phant, and the vrish. 

How terrible it would be to meet creatures so 
awful that no human being had dared to see 
them! But Jocelyn and the comrades whom he 
had failed in their hour of peril on the moor, 
what of them? They were prisoners in the land 
of the foe; with the treasure of the castle he 
could ransom them — was he to fail them 
again? 

All at once the runaway young soldier threw 
back his shoulders bravely and lifted his eyes 
to the sky. He would seek the treasure on the 
morrow’s morn. 

The sun was shining brightly, a cold dew was 
still glistening on the leaves, and the villagers 
had gathered by the public well to speed Hugh 
on his way. Shaking their heads doubtfully 
and mournfully, they watched him go swinging 
down the road and disappear into the trees 
upon the hill. Presently the glint of his blue 
101 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

smock began to be seen here and there along the 
climbing path, close by the summit of the 
mount. A little anxious time passed, and sud¬ 
denly there rang from the ruin a long, wild 
howl. 

“There, the trigorgon has got him,” said the 
big harvester. 

“You mean the giant thith,” pointed-nose 
corrected. 

I am glad to tell you, however, that they were 
both wrong. This is what had happened at 
the ruin. 

Now Hugh had carried an ancient lantern 
with him from the village, and halfway up the 
hill he paused, cut a likely branch from an ash, 
and fashioned himself a stout and serviceable 
staff. Thus armed, he arrived at the great gate 
of the ruin, and forced his way through the 
thorn trees by the portal into the roofless 
square of the walls. There were trees there, too, 
and though the leaves were still green, every 
now and then one went drifting through the 
102 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

silence to the ground. In the heart of the 
wooded court, a broad flight of steps, over¬ 
grown with moss and shrubs of shallow root, 
led down into a darkness far below. 

Grasping his cudgel firmly, Hugh descended 
the woodsy stair. The sunlight disappeared 
behind, the green moss grew no more, and 
clumps of leathery toadstools burst from the 
muddy crannies of the stone. Suddenly the 
runaway soldier found himself facing a giant 
pointed door of blackest adamant. Over the 
arch of it, in letters of ancient form, was carved 
a legend saying: — 

toljo tooulb sfmre tJje treasure 
must conquer a mtgtjtp foe toitfnn 

Behind the door something was roaring and 
roaring. “ T is surely the trigorgon,” thought 
Hugh, his heart pounding at his ribs. Sum¬ 
moning up all his courage, the runaway soldier 
threw back the adamant door. 

The instant he did so, the roaring rose to a 


103 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

howling shriek, and a gust of the storm wind, 
magically imprisoned in the caves of the hill, 
went whistling out of the adamant door and up 
the tunnel of the stairway to the sun. It was 
this cry of the imprisoned gust which had made 
them shake their heads in the village below. 

And now Hugh bravely set foot into the 
darkness and, holding his twinkling light at 
arm’s length ahead, advanced to meet the 
mighty foe within. Through great halls he 
fared, and heard queer noises which he took to 
be the steps of the trigorgon, but were only the 
echoes of his own steps tapping in the dark; 
through long tunnels he trod, and heard breath¬ 
ings and whispers which he took to be the 
sighs of the thith, but were only the echoes of a 
chuckling brook, flowing somewhere in the 
wall. On and on went Hugh, and laughed a 
little to himself when he mistook two shining 
points of stone for the eyes of the winged 
bogus, and a monstrous round rock for the 
bulk of the mistophant. 


104 




/■* 








Summoning up all his courage , Hugh threw open the adamant door 










































































































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

After a while, I am glad to tell you, he even 
ceased turning around now and then to see if 
he were being followed by the whiskeroarer or 
the vrish. 

Presently Hugh began to hear the queerest 
tinkling-clinking ringing sound, unbroken in 
its flow as the trilling of a stream. A moment 
later the youth opened a second pointed door 
and stood in a lighted chamber, staring at a 
fountain of money. 

The chamber was high and square; its roof 
and walls were of blackest adamant, twinkly- 
bright with specks of yellow gold, and a 
magic, ever-burning lamp of adamant hung 
from above, yielding a golden light. In the 
height of the further wall a great fountain-like 
opening there was, framed in a golden star, and 
through this there poured a ringing cataract of 
coins of yellow gold! Below the shower of 
money, a semicircular basin, raised above the 
floor on pillars strangely carved, received the 
golden flood and lay full to the brim of clinking 
106 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

pieces of gold rising, falling, tossing, and wash¬ 
ing about like waters in a pool. About the brim 
of the fountain there ran a sculptured band of 
stone whereon men were shown engaged in 
honorable labor — the farmer scattered the 
seed, the harvester gathered the grain, the 
smith labored at his forge, and a master work¬ 
man carved a fair statue from a block of fault¬ 
less stone. 

And Hugh, pausing to look at the pieces of 
gold, saw that they were of ancient years and 
sealed with the seal of old, forgotten kings. 

Now it came to pass that, when Hugh had 
filled his pockets and his hat with gold, he dis¬ 
covered a third adamant door leading from the 
chamber and, passing through it, found him¬ 
self blinking in the sunlight on the further 
side of the hill. Strange to say, in the wall of 
stone behind him there was never a sign or ap¬ 
pearance of a door! 

But the mighty foe within—what could it be? 
He had seen nothing of the trigorgon, the 
107 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

thith, the winged bogus, the whiskeroarer, the 
mistophant, or the vrish. Yet the inscription 
had said that he must conquer a foe. Suddenly 
Hugh threw his hands into the air with a great 
merry shout j he had found the key to the 
mystery. 

It was all a wise jest of the old knight. The 
foe to be conquered was fear, and “the mighty 
foe within” meant the host of silly fears which 
run and hide in the house of one’s heart. The 
treasure had been guarded against men by 
their own fears. Brave men, who sent fears 
hurrying and scurrying out of their hearts, 
alone were worthy of the prize. 

As for the trigorgon, the thith, the winged 
bogus, the whiskeroarer, the mistophant, and 
the ugsome vrish, they had never existed, for 
they were not creatures, but silly, thoughtless 
imaginings and fears. 

And now Hugh, with his pockets laden with 
gold, walked over the hills to the enemy’s land, 
and ransomed his comrade Jocelyn and the 
108 


THE ADAMANT DOOR 

dear friends with whom he had marched to 
battle on the moon. 

Presently a just and mighty emperor com¬ 
pelled both kingdoms to make peace, and the 
men in red-and-white and the men in black-and- 
white went home to their fields and their dear 
ones gathered by the fire. 

And Hugh and Jocelyn shared the treasure 
together, and their farms lay side by side. 


109 


THE CITY OF THE 
WINTER SLEEP 

Once upon a time, by the banks of a noble 
river flowing to the sea through a mountain- 
girdled plain, stood a city of the wisest people 
in the world. Instead of spending the winter as 
others did, huddled over smoky fires, freezing 
ears and noses, bundling themselves up in a 
pother of clothes, and being cross at breakfast, 
these sensible folk simply retired to their dwell¬ 
ings, locked their doors, drew down their cur¬ 
tains, put on their nightcaps, got into bed, 
and slept the winter away. The north wind 
howled there about the shuttered houses and 
woke no citizen from his dreams; in the empty 
market place and the silent streets, stainless 
and untrodden lay the snow. But when the 
leaves were the size of a mouse’s ear, and the 
singing birds had returned from their winter 
pilgrimage, the sleepy citizens would wake, rub 
no 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

their eyes, stretch their arms, and come yawn¬ 
ing to open their windows on the sunlight and 
the spring. 

The King of this remarkable city, I must tell 
you, had three children, the two elder of whom 
were sons and the youngest a daughter. Now, 
as occasionally happens, the two sons were 
models of royal deportment, whilst their sister, 
the slender, dark-haired, and dark-eyed Prin¬ 
cess Theolette, was as wilful and spirited as a 
mountain bird. 

Now, on a day when the year was growing old 
and only a few half-withered flowers were to 
be gathered in the fields, it chanced that Theo¬ 
lette, who had been idling about with little 
to do, took it into her head to pay a visit to the 
royal library. It was very quiet there, the red 
autumn sun was shining through the great 
windows, a million motes of dust danced in the 
broad and ruddy beam, and Theolette, curled 
in a huge red-leather easy-chair, had great diffi¬ 
culty in keeping awake. Presently her eyes lit 
111 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

upon a large green book entitled, Winter Time, 
and this Theolette took from its place and 
opened in her lap. 

Somewhat to her disappointment, the print 
within the old book was in a foreign lan¬ 
guage, but the pictures — they would have 
kept anyone from sleeping! There were pic¬ 
tures of snowy mountain-tops, of bright, 
frozen lakes with people skating on them, of 
attacks on snow forts, of snowstorms in pleas¬ 
ant country villages, and of belfries agleam with 
snow beneath the moon. Now, although Theo¬ 
lette had never seen the winter or any snow or 
ice and could hardly make anything out of 
some of the pictures, she could see well enough 
that here was something strange, and new, and 
wonderful indeed. And then and there she re¬ 
solved to run away during the winter sleep, see 
the winter world, and return before the city 
woke to the coming of the spring! 

Shorter grew the golden days, and longer the 
still cold nights, and presently the great day 
112 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

of the winter sleep was at hand. A trumpeter, 
posted in the tower of dreams, at sunrise called 
the city to its last mom of waking life; and 
scarce had his last notes faded, ere a murmur of 
bustle and preparations began to rise from every 
household in the town. 

At sunset, in accordance with ancient custom, 
the edict of sleep was read to the people from a 
balcony of the palace. This venerable law, I 
must tell you, summoned all good citizens to go 
to sleep, and recited the dreadful penalties 
prepared for all who should dare to stay awake. 
When the gathering had melted away, and the 
streets were empty save for a hurrying citizen 
or two on some belated errand, the gates were 
locked and the waters of the river turned into 
the moat about the town. 

The enchanted chimes of sleep, which rang of 
themselves, were to sound at the midnight 
hour. 

Little by little, the royal palace became as 
silent as a stone. A darkness of slumber and 


113 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

night filled the vast echoing halls, and from 
afar through the gloom came the faint tramp, 
tramp of the hob-nailed night-watch on the 
last round of the year. 

After attending the ceremonial winter good¬ 
night of the royal family, Theolette hurried 
away to her own chamber. 

“I must n’t fall asleep now,” said she, clench¬ 
ing her fist, “because if I do, I ’ll sleep until the 
spring!” And with a heart that went thump, 
thump, thump in the darkness, she waited the 
midnight hour. 

Suddenly the first warning bell — Nightcaps 
On! — struck one great solemn rolling clang 
which swept out over the city and ebbed away 
humming to the stars. 

And now, after a pause, sounded the second 
bell — Lights out! Theolette sat down in a 
great chair, arose, walked about, sat down 
again, and arose once more. Would the third 
bell never ring? 

Presently —Everybody to bed! — boomed the 


114 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

third bell. Theolette put her fingers to her 
ears. Solemn and sweet and strange and gold¬ 
en, the enchanted chimes were sounding their 
fairy tune. 

Now, once the song of the chimes had come to 

grave chord had melted into the air, Theolette 
went to her window, drew back the curtain, and 
looked forth over the city sleeping in the star¬ 
light. How strange and still they were, those 
dark streets winding like crooked brooks 
through banks of huddled roofs. Suddenly 
the Princess uttered a little cry of surprise! 

Far away across the sleeping city, in a little 
house by the wall, a yellow light was gleaming! 
And now the light moved, went from window 
to window, vanished, reappeared, and vanished 
yet again. 

Someone else was awake in the city! Who 
could it be? 

Puzzled, but not the littlest bit afraid, the 
Princess went to her wardrobe and dressed 


115 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

herself as well as she could in a little red hunt¬ 
ing-dress and cap. Then, throwing her warmest 
mantle over her shoulders and taking a lighted 
candle with her, she made her way from her 
chamber down the great stairway to the palace 
door. Fantastic shadows leaped and swayed 
as the Princess, holding aloft her taper, de¬ 
scended the long broad flight, and somewhere 
a huge clock ticked on, solemn, dutiful, and 
forgotten. Opening the door gently, Theolette 
stepped forth into the dark street and hurried 
along it to the royal gate of the city wall. 

All seemed well; the gates were locked, and the 
drawbridge of the moat was lifted high above 
the black and starry waters. Standing motion¬ 
less for a moment in one of the shadowy nooks 
of the giant portal, Theolette listened for a 
footfall or a sound, but heard only the sigh of 
the night wind and the ripple of water in the 
moat. Reassured by the silence, the Princess 
lowered the drawbridge, unlocked the great 
gate with her father’s own key, opened one vast 
116 



The runaway Princess stepped forth into the dark street and 9 
taper in hand , hurried to the gate of the city wall 








































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

swinging door, locked it behind her, and walked 
off bravely into the dark and lonely land. 

On the following morning, a little after the 
dawn, the Princess arrived at a country town 
just over the frontier of her father’s realm, and 
there she sought out the inn and made prepara¬ 
tions for her runaway winter-pilgrimage. From 
the host, a little white horse she purchased, and 
from the host’s fourth son, who happened to be 
a tailor, a fine warm riding-habit of country 
wool. Thus clad, away into the winter world 
galloped the adventurous Theolette. Of what 
befell her, you soon shall hear. 

And what a wonderful pilgrimage it was 
through the world of ice and snow! I wish I 
had time to tell you of all she saw and of all 
she did, of how the first snowstorm so pleased 
her that she almost lost her way in the whirl 
of the flakes, of her first look at a bit of ice, of 
her visit to the winter festival of the Fairy of 
the Snows, of how she danced the minuet at the 


118 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

polar bears’ ball, and of how she rode Aldeb- 
aran, the skating horse, up and down the ice 
lakes of the wild. White as snow was this mar¬ 
velous animal, and of blue leather edged with 
white were his saddle and bridle, whilst the 
skates he wore were of the blackest and shiniest 
adamant. You should have seen him skating 
o’er the lakes, now striking out with this hoof, 
now with that; his head held high, his long 
silky tail streaming in the wind. And Theolette 
thought, as she rode, of the old book in the royal 
library and of the City of the Winter Sleep far 
away, with the storm crying unheeded through 
its dream. 

And now the winter waned, a venturesome 
bird or two returned to rock on budding twigs, 
the earth began to turn from brown to green, 
and Theolette knew that she must hasten back 
at once. Alas! one pleasant morning, as she 
was nearing the borders of her father’s land, a 
band of robbers suddenly sprang at her out 
of a wood, bound her securely, and hurried her 

119 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

to their castle with the intention of demanding 
a ransom. Once there, they pushed the Princess 
roughly into a little cobwebby turret-chamber, 
slammed and locked the heavy oaken door be¬ 
hind her, and left her to her thoughts. 

From her window in the turret, Theolette 
could see the highroad leading toward the 
castle through the wooded lowlands, and the 
broad winding stream of a mighty river — the 
very river, indeed, which flowed by the walls 
of the City of the Winter Sleep. With every 
warm and sunny hour the spring was driving 
old winter from the land, the scales of tree buds 
were unsealing, frogs were piping in tiny tri¬ 
umph from every marsh and pool, and there 
were pleasant earthy smells in the air. 

“The spring awakening is surely close at 
hand,” thought Theolette. “What shall Ido?” 

Now, one sunny morning as the disconsolate 
Princess walked to and fro in her little room, it 
came to pass that she heard from the road below 
a pleasant voice singing a strange old song of 
120 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

her own land. It was a song about a soldier 
who had fought in the wars and returned in the 
spring to plough the dear earth he had loved 
and defended. And, hearing the old song, 
Theolette uttered a joyful cry and ran to the 
window. A youth in a student’s dress of green 
stood in the highroad directly under the win¬ 
dow ; he had heard the cry, and stood looking 
up at the sunny wall. 

“Stay, good sir,” cried Theolette, “and tell 
me who you are that sings a song of mine own 
land.” 

To this the pleasant youth replied that he 
was but a student who had stolen away from 
the City of Winter Sleep, and was even then 
hastening back lest his absence be discovered. 
And Theolette remembered the light she had 
seen in the old house by the city wall. 

And now Theolette told the student of her 
adventures and begged of him to aid her. You 
may be sure that the student, who was a fine 
brave fellow, needed no second entreaty! Being 
121 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

a clever youth as well as a brave one, he skill¬ 
fully managed to lure the robbers away from 
the castle that very eve, and fling a coiled rope 
to the Princess. And, hand over hand, with feet 
pressed close against the cord, down came the 
adventurous Theolette. 

Now, one of the robbers, a small one, had 
ridden away with Theolette’s little white horse, 
so the student hurried Theolette to the river 
bank where a boat lay waiting. Alas, the vessel 
was scarce large enough for a single passenger! 

“See, Princess, the river is in flood,” said the 
youth, “and you have but to step into this 
vessel and be carried swiftly to the city.” 

“But what of you, brave friend?” said Theo¬ 
lette. “You will be late now, and your flight 
from the city will be known.” 

“Do not fear, Princess,” replied the student 
with a queer, half-merry smile. “There is still 
time, and I can make haste as well as any 
man. To tell you truth, I have never felt at 
home in the city, anyway. But enough of words. 


122 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

Hasten, Lady Theolette, for the robbers will 
soon return.” 

And now Theolette found herself on the mighty 
river in the full hurly-burly of its springtide 
flood. On and on she swept through the night, 
league after league, now floating quietly over 
lowlands turned to lakes; now borne headlong 
with the torrent down valleys and ravines. 
Solitary and fugitive, one great star shone close 
above the distant peaks. 

Just as the dawn was streaking the east with 
rose and gray, the Princess gained her father’s 
city. The drawbridge was still lowered across 
the moat, the city was still sealed in its winter 
dream. 

After thrusting the little boat once more forth 
into the full current of the river, Theolette ran 
to the palace and went to her own room. With 
a little sigh, she folded away the worn red 
hunting-dress and cap she had been wearing — 
the riding-habit of country wool had been left 
behind somewhere at the return of spring — 

123 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

and crept into her little silken bed. So weary 
was she that scarce had her head touched the 
pillow ere she was sound asleep. 

When she opened her eyes again, a whole day 
and a night had passed, the City had risen 
from the winter sleep, and her mother stood 
bending over her with an amused smile. Loud 
and clear and joyous the silver bells of the 
spring-awakening were ringing o’er the town. 

“Good gracious, Theolette,” said her mother, 
“but what a sleeper you are! I’ve been shak¬ 
ing you for the last ten minutes. Get up now, 
that’s a dear, and wear your rose frock to the 
grand spring breakfast.” 

A little later Theolette, feeling just the tiniest 
bit bewildered, sat down to breakfast with her 
father the King, her mother the Queen, and the 
two Princes her brothers. And there, moved by 
an impulse of truth and courage — for, though 
wilful, Theolette was as faithful to high honor 
as a vowed knight — the Princess told them all 


124 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

the tale of her runaway adventures. To her 
surprise, she could win none of them to believe 
her story! 

“You have been dreaming, Theolette,” said 
her father, gravely shaking his head and reach¬ 
ing for a royal muffin. “But I called you my¬ 
self!” exclaimed her mother, pausing from her 
royal marmalade. And as for Theolette’s two 
brothers, they pretended that polite disbelief 
which young men find so delightfully irritating 
when teasing their sisters. 

Weeks passed, spring followed winter into 
the cupboard of time, and Theolette could find 
no one to believe her story. Weary of insisting, 
and shaken by the unbelief of those about her, 
the Princess began to wonder in her own heart 
if it were not all a dream. Nothing remained of 
it all, and it was so like a dream! 

Her head bowed low, her eyes full of doubt and 
memories, the Princess mused all day, and 
finally grew so pale that her royal parents be¬ 
came quite alarmed, and took counsel to send 


125 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

their daughter on a long visit to her aunt, the 
Queen of the Golden Mountain. On the morn 
of departure, Theolette walked to the great hall 
of state to say farewell. 

“A dream, a dream; was it only a dream?” 
thought Theolette. And she saw again the 
winter world, and the polar bears’ ball, with 
the candles burning in chandeliers of icicles, 
and the skating horse, and the pleasant youth 
in green who had saved her from the robbers. 
Could it have been only a dream? With a sigh 
and a doubting shake of her head, the Prin¬ 
cess took her place at the head of her ladies 
and approached her father and mother. 

}And now, of a sudden, from the sunny street 
below the pillared window, a voice was heard 
singing. And the voice sang an old song of 
a soldier who had fought in the wars and re¬ 
turned in the spring to plough the dear earth 
he had loved and defended. A hush fell over 
the astounded assembly. 

“Stop, I pray you!” cried Theolette, turning 
126 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

pale as the new-fallen snow. “0 hasten, good 
soldiers, and bring yon singer here before me! ” 
And now a group of guards rushed through the 
swinging doors to do her bidding. Presently 
they returned, bringing with them the student 
who had saved Theolette from the robbers! 
He was very pale, there were irons on his wrists, 
and two burly turnkeys, dressed in red and 
black, stood beside him. And, beholding Theo¬ 
lette, the poor youth drew in his breath with a 
start and met her gaze with strange eyes. 

“Speak! What does this mean? Who is this 
fellow?” cried the King, rising from his throne. 

“May it please Your Majesty,” replied a 
turnkey, falling on one knee, “this youth is 
a student of the College of Dreams who dis¬ 
obeyed the edict of sleep and ran away from the 
city. He was captured as he tried to return after 
the spring awakening, brought before the Court 
of Dreams, and sentenced to pay the penalty. 
We were on our way with him to the dun¬ 
geons under the river when the royal guards 
127 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

surrounded us and led us here. What is your 
will, 0 King?” 

“My will is that the judgment be obeyed,” 
replied the King. “Lead him forth to his 
doom!” 

“Nay, hear me, father,” cried Theolette. “If 
he is guilty, so am I! I, too, disobeyed the 
edict; I, too, ran away. This is the brave youth 
who so gallantly preserved me from the rob¬ 
bers ! Oh, will you not believe me now? It is 
not a dream — it never was a dream! ” 

At these words, a stir of excitement swept 
through the vast hall; indeed, it seemed as if all 
there were trying to talk, to protest, to support, 
to dispute, to explain. The uproar was at its 
height when the boom of a cannon first quieted, 
then roused the hubbub to an even greater 
pitch. 

“A royal visitor! ” exclaimed the King. “What 
can this mean? Let no one stir! ” 

Presently, there was a fanfare of many trum¬ 
pets, the great portals of the hall swung open, 
128 


THE CITY OF THE WINTER SLEEP 

and there entered a crowned King and his train. 

“0 King of the City of the Winter Sleep,” 
cried the newcomer, “hear me, for I have come 
from afar and in great haste. I am the King 
of the North and I seek my only son, Prince 
Florimond, who was stolen from his cradle 
twenty years ago. The Fairy of the Isles has re¬ 
vealed that I shall find him here. He dwells in 
a house by the city wall and is a student of the 
College of Dreams. I pray you search for him 
at once, for my heart hungers to behold him! ” 
“Florimond? Florimond?” cried the Lord 
Chancellor of the College, stepping forward, 
“there is but one Florimond in the city and, 
as I live, this youth is he!” And presently all 
beheld that the great King and the runaway 
student were indeed father and son. To pardon 
the runaway youth and loose him from his 
bonds was but a moment’s task. This done, a 
royal herald proclaimed a three days’ holiday. 
On the last evening of the festival, Florimond 
and Theolette walked alone to a great balcony 
129 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

and looked forth over the city, the river, and 
the mountain-circled plain. It was midsummer 
eve, the warm night was sweet with the fra¬ 
grance of many flowers, and the music of lutes 
and viols sounded faintly through the pleasant 
air. 

"Was it a wonder that I ran away,” said the 
Prince, laughing, “when I was n’t born a 
winter sleeper?” 

“The winter — ah, what fun it all was!” 
answered Theolette. “I wonder if I shall ever 
see it again.” 

“You shall see it every year if you will only 
consent to be Princess of the North,” replied 
Florimond, with a gallant smile. And then 
and there the two runaways pledged their troth. 
The wedding over, Florimond returned to his 
own land, taking Theolette with him; and, 
unless you have heard to the contrary, they are 
living there happily still. 


130 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

Once upon a time a company of jugglers, acro¬ 
bats, and other strays, traveling afoot to the 
Fair of the Golden Bear, arrived at twilight in 
a glen close by a village and encamped there 
for the night. From eventide till late into the 
dark, the watchful villagers beheld their huge 
fire blazing behind the dark columns of the 
trees; but at dawn all was still, for the wan¬ 
derers had risen by the glow of the morning 
star, and fared away toward the sea. 

Now it came to pass that an old villager, whose 
lands lay beyond the glen, rose early that mom, 
and with his hoe on his shoulder walked to 
his labor through the sunrise, the quiet, and 
the dew. Arriving at the glen, he turned 
aside for a moment from the path and out of 
curiosity wandered in to gaze at the trampled 
grass and the burned circle of the fire. Sud¬ 
denly he caught his breath with a start. Two 

131 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 


little children, a boy in tattered leather and 
a girl in a ragged frock of blue, were lying fast 
asleep on a pile of yellow straw. 

And now the two children stood, hand in 
hand, in the house of the Master Villager, 
gazing up into the faces of a dozen gathered 
there to see them and to question. The little 
boy, who was brown-haired and brown-eyed, 
bore himself bravely and appeared sturdy and 
strong, whilst the tiny girl, whose blue eyes 
were full of frightened tears, seemed very gentle 
and shy. Of who their parents were, and of 
how it had fortuned that they had been thus 
forsaken, neither the little boy nor the girl 
could tell; indeed the most that could be gath¬ 
ered from them was that they were not brother 
and sister, and that the lad’s name was Aileel 
and the girl’s, Ailinda. 

Forlorn, forsaken, and unknown, the children 
of the wanderers remained in the village and 
were given to certain villagers to house and to 
keep. It was the lot of Aileel to become the 


132 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

foster son and little apprentice of Braulio, the 
good smith, whilst tiny Ailinda fell into the 
hands of Tharbis, the grudging and envious 
miser of the town. 

And now passed many years; andAileel, of 
whom you first must hear, grew to be a comely 
young smith, wise in the lore of iron and of fire. 
Tall was he, broad-shouldered and very strong, 
yet so lithe and swift-moving withal that none 
in his wide land of the Blue Hills could master 
him in a trial of strength or speed. His favorite 
pastime was country wrestling, and on holiday 
morns you were sure to see him and his good 
foster father wandering down the village lanes 
to the day’s wrestling-match, each tricked out 
in his best, each with a fine blue kerchief 
knotted at the throat. And when Aileel, after 
a stirring battle of catch and turn and tug and 
strain would hold his rival’s shoulders to the 
straw and then leap up, light as air, joyful 
and victorious, how honest Braulio would 
shout and pound together his huge hands! 


133 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Their smithy stood by the village brook; of 
gray-green stone its walls were made, and its 
roof of heart-of-oak turned silvery brown. It 
was a brave sight, I can tell you, to see the fire 
rising hot and violet-white from the forge, 
brightening Aileel’s face as he bent to it and 
gazed within it at the iron turning ruddy gold; 
and there was a brave music, too, in the clang- 
clanging of the anvil ’neath his blows. 

Far otherwise, alas, were the fortunes of 
Ailinda! Scolded to work at the earliest dawn 
and kept at some task till well into the night, 
the poor maiden had hardly a moment’s time 
to call her own. Whenever he could and as 
often, Aileel came to help her with her toil; 
he drew water from the well, carried in the 
wood, and aided her in the garden in the cool 
of the golden day. 

In spite of this hard life, I am glad to tell you, 
Ailinda grew up to be as fine a lass as Aileel a 
lad. Her eyes were as blue as the waters of the 
bright September sea, the glance they gave was 


134 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

full of patience and courage, her long golden 
hair was as splendid as a queen’s. Everybody 
loved her and helped her — all save Tharbis’s 
only son, her jealous foster-brother, Potpan. 

Squat, round-nosed, and leering-eyed, there 
was no spiteful trick in all the world which' 
this wretch was not prepared to try. He would 
slyly nip the buds from flowers Ailinda had 
planted, so that they might not bloom; he 
would drive the cows at twilight back into the 
fields; he would roll the clean milk-pans in the 
mire. Left to his own counsel, Aileel would 
soon have taught the wretch a lasting lesson, 
but as Ailinda feared lest after such a battle 
Aileel be forbidden the house, she endured 
much, saying naught. 

But presently came matters to a head. 

Now it changed upon a May Day, that a fair 
blue kerchief had been chosen as the wrestler’s 
prize, and this prize Aileel won gallantly, and 
offered to Ailinda. Gathering the kerchief to¬ 
gether again in the folds in which it had already 

135 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

lain, the maiden, for fear of Potpan, hid the ker¬ 
chief in a cranny of a room. Presently arrived 
the sunny morn of the year’s midsummer holi¬ 
day. At high noon, her thankless toil for a 
moment o’er, Ailinda went to take the kerchief 
from its nook. 

The kerchief was no longer there! 

Suddenly she heard a loud ill-natured guffaw, 
and turning, found Potpan at a window, watch¬ 
ing all. He was dressed in his best festival 
finery, and Ailinda’s pretty kerchief was knotted 
at his neck. The maiden’s heart sank; her 
brave eyes filled with tears, yet she ran forth 
and confronted the robber face to face. 

“Give me my kerchief, Potpan,” said she, 
“Oh, give me my kerchief, Potpan!” 

“Your kerchief?” answered Potpan with 
another rude guffaw. “Ha! Ha! That’s a 
good one! Your kerchief, indeed! I found this 
kerchief myself, and I mean to keep it, too.” 

“It is mine, Potpan,” replied poor Ailinda. 
“Give me my kerchief, Potpan.” 

136 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

“I suppose you would wear it at the festival,” 
jeered Potpan. “The notion of your going to 
the festival! Go back to your kettles and 
pails!” 

A pause of quiet now followed, and all at once 
Ailinda heard through the stillness the sound 
of a closing gate. Suddenly Aileel came strid¬ 
ing swiftly to her side. 

“Come, Potpan,” said Aileel sternly, “Give 
Ailinda my kerchief! ” 

“At your command, you wanderers’ brat?” 
cried Potpan, furious with rage. “Be off or 
I ’ll teach you how I — ” but here his speech 
came to an end; Aileel, turning swiftly as the 
wind, caught him in a wrestler’s grasp, held 
him fast, and undid the kerchief from his neck. 
This done, the young smith freed him and 
pushed him contemptuously aside. Hardly had 
he done this, however, when Potpan caught up 
a great stone and flung it, striking Aileel with it 
upon the hand. 

And now there came a real tussle, for Potpan, 

137 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

though squat, was no mean antagonist. A real 
tussle it was, but a short one, for suddenly 
Aileel’s handsome face cleared, he laughed a 
little merry laugh even, and catching up Potpan 
in all his finery, held him high for all his kick¬ 
ing, walked with him a little space, and tossed 
him splash into the duck pond! You should 
have heard the squawking and the quacking 
of the ducks, and seen the scrambling, and the 
paddling, and the indignant tail-feather-shak¬ 
ing as Potpan fell into the mud-brown pool. 
One yellow duckling with cold wet feet walked 
on his ear. 

But what an uproar awaited Aileel and Ailinda 
on their return from the festival! 

Telling a wicked and lying story, Tharbis and 
Potpan had gone about among the villagers, 
picturing Aileel as a violent and dangerous 
ruffian whom it was unsafe to have about, and 
urging that the wanderers’ lad be sent away 
from the village. Now Tharbis was very rich, 
and there were many in his debt who dared not 


138 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

disagree with him; a dispute arose, the village 
took sides, and the partisans of Thar bis and 
Potpan snatched the victory. At the head of 
a crew of hangers-on armed with sticks and 
scythes, Tharbis and Potpan came in triumph 
to the smithy, held Braulio and his foster son 
to the wall, and bade the latter leave the village 
at once, never to return. 

“I go, Potpan,” replied Aileel, the same strange 
little smile on his lips, “but I shall return some 
day, and I shall toss you into the duck pond 
once again.” 

“Enough! Be off, wanderers’ brat!” cried 
Potpan’s crew. “Begone, and never let us see 
your face again! ” 

So now Aileel bade his dear foster-father fare¬ 
well, entrusted Ailinda to his care, and fared 
over hill, over dale, to the Kingdom of Iron in 
the Land of the Fiery Mountains. 

When Aileel arrived there, it was twilight; the 
east behind him was already dark and blos¬ 
soming with stars, and the immense plain at 

139 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

his feet lay full of earthy vapor and vague 
gloom. Night was gathering behind, night was 
gathering below, but beyond the vast sweep of 
dark the western sky was still aglow with a great 
splendor of the purest emerald-green. Rising 
steep and solitary, each one, from the dark 
of the plain, a thousand black mountains 
towered to the green light, their heads crowned 
with rosy glows of fire. Some from their burn¬ 
ing craters tossed great showers of golden 
sparks; some were crowned with huge tongues 
of many-colored flames; some poured forth 
rolling smoke; and over others hung clouds 
illumined with the red of fire deep below. Pres¬ 
ently the green of the sky deepened and died, 
and night came to the Land of Fire. 

These Fiery Mountains, I must tell you, were 
the forges of the people of the kingdom, who 
were sturdy smiths, armorers, and artificers, 
one and all. Their royal city stood half upon 
the plain, half upon the slope of the greatest 
of the burning heights, and everything within 

140 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

it was of iron made. Of iron were the king’s 
palace and his throne, of iron the royal crown, 
of iron the money, of iron the houses, of iron 
the walls and towers, and of iron the motion¬ 
less and shrill-tongued trees along the way. 

And now Aileel took service with the Lord of 
the Royal Forge that he might learn from him 
all the world’s wisdom of iron and of fire. The 
great iron halls of the royal forge were built in 
the caves of the Fiery Mountains, and within 
them toiled Aileel from daylight to the dark, 
his ears half deafened with the music of a 
thousand anvils, and the rumbling-grumbling 
of the great forge-fire. Presently the Lord of 
the Forge became so pleased with the skill, the 
industry, and the good spirit of the comely 
young smith, that he took him to lodge in his 
huge iron house. 

One morn Aileel said to his friend and master, 
“Honored sir, it is in my mind to fashion 
something never yet seen in the Kingdom of 
Iron. Grant me, I pray, the great chamber 

141 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

beyond the black cave to be my very own.” 

“It shall be yours, worthy Aileel,” replied the 
Lord of the Royal Forge. “Here is the key.” 

From morn till night, behind the locked door, 
the people of the royal forge heard Aileel toil¬ 
ing at his secret task. Now they heard him at 
his anvil, now they heard him carrying his iron 
to melt in the fires of the mountain, now they 
heard him whistling snatches of a tune. 

“What can he be making?” said they, and 
they peeked through the keyhole, but could 
see nothing at all. 

But now you must hear of Potpan and Ailinda. 

At first, with Aileel driven from the village and 
venturing afar, the poor maiden had gone 
about in deadly fear of Potpan and Tharbis; 
but as both of them had a wholesome respect 
for Braulio, it had fortuned that her lot was 
neither worse nor better than before. Tharbis 
still scolded her to work, shirking Potpan gave 
her oft a heavy task, yet day by day, in spite 

142 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

of all their ugly tricks, brave and patient 
Ailinda grew to be quite the loveliest maid in all 
the land. Finally even Potpan himself began 
to see her loveliness, and told her one evening 
that they were to be married in a fortnight’s 
time! Wild with anxiety and determined to 
run away rather than enter into any such hate¬ 
ful alliance, Ailinda sought out Braulio and 
told him of her plight. 

“Fear not, Ailinda,” said the brave smith. 
“Though a fortnight be but a little time, and 
the Kingdom of Iron a week’s journey down 
the world, yet shall Aileel be here before this 
wedding comes to pass. I will fetch him myself 
and at once!” 

And now Braulio climbed to the saddle of his 
huge white horse, and galloped off on the road 
to the Fiery Mountains. Alas, just as the smith 
was descending the slope to a glass bridge over 
a river, the white horse stumbled and fell, 
throwing Braulio over his head and laming him 
severely. Hobbling along, lame horse, lame 


143 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

master, the pair made so slow an advance to 
the Kingdom of Iron, that it was not until 
midnight of the thirteenth day that Braulio 
knocked at the iron door of the Lord of the 
Royal Forge. 

Seated in a great chair of wrought black iron, 
Braulio poured forth his unhappy story to 
Aileel, the Lord of the Royal Forge, and the 
latter’s good wife. Strange to say, an odd little 
smile gathered on Aileel’s lips as he heard the 
tale, even such a smile as he had worn when he 
had tossed Potpan in the pool. 

“The wedding morn of Potpan and Ailinda? ” 
said Aileel. “That shall never be! Come, take 
heart, good friends, and quick, all of us to the 
chamber in the cave!” 

The night was clear and windless, but only the 
brightest stars were to be seen, for the great 
Fire Mountain above the city was crowned 
with an immense whirl of gold and orange 
flame which flooded town and sky with flaring 
light. Up a broad iron stair, along the slope, 

144 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

and into the mountain through a mighty iron 
portal, fled the little company. Bright torches 
gleamed in the iron halls and caves, the roar 
of the great forge shook the earth, and the iron 
floors were warm beneath their feet. And now 
as Aileel unlocked his door and flung it open 
wide, his friends uttered together a great cry 
of joy and surprise. 

The young smith had fashioned a wonderful 
flying bird of iron! Its wings, which it flapped 
like a real bird, were of iron tempered a lovely 
jewel-blue, its breast was of iron forged to a 
silver-gray, and its beak and claws and living 
round eyes were of iron as red as fire. Within it 
a spring of iron lay, which one wound up with 
a huge black key; one steered it by pulling 
shiny iron chains attached to a collar round its 
neck. And there was a great comfortable seat, 
too, in the body between the wings — a seat 
with a huge high back in the fashion of a 
splendid sleigh, cushions of sunniest larkspur- 
blue, and just enough room for three. 

145 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

So Aileel wound up the spring, clickety clack, 
clickety clack, clickety clack, bundled Braulio 
into the seat, swung back a lofty door he had 
opened in the side of the mountain, waved 
farewell, and flew out into the golden glow of 
the fiery night. Over the forges of iron he fled, 
and saw their flaming deeps and felt their hot 
breath; he winged his way over woodlands and 
mountains and rivers and gleaming lakes. 
Braulio, beside him, hung on to his hat all the 
time, and only once in a while looked over the 
side. On and on went Aileel and Braulio, yet 
the sunrise found them far away from the land 
of the Blue Hills. 

And now it was the wedding morn and the 
wedding hour; the sun was shining, bells were 
ringing, and music was sounding in the street. 
Fearful of her running away, Potpan had locked 
Ailinda in her chamber, first advising her to 
put on a merry countenance lest she be well 
slapped. Presently women of the village came 

146 


AILEEL AND AILINDA 

to attire her in wedding finery, and Ailinda, 
her heart sunken in a despairing dream, suf¬ 
fered them to do their will. 

The bells were ringing now their loudest peals, 
and presently Potpan pushed Ailinda rudely 
up to a place on the seat of the gay cart which 
was to carry them to the wedding festival. This 
bridal cart was painted a fine bright blue, its 
sides and the spokes of its two great wheels 
were garlanded with flowers, an arch of flowers 
had been built over the seat, and the two snow- 
white oxen who drew it brandished horns gilded 
with bright gold. 

Clang! clang! ding dong dong! went the vil¬ 
lage bells. Swaying their huge heads from side 
to side, and ringing golden bells upon their 
yoke, the white oxen slowly drew Potpan and 
Ailinda down the village street. 

And now all at once there were cries and shouts 
of alarm. “Run! run, everybody! Run! Run! 
The bird! Oh, see the bird!” Soon one and 
all were scrambling here and there into houses, 

147 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

down cellars, under tables, into clothes-closets 
and up trees till there was not a soul in sight. 
Never stopping to take thought of Ailinda, 
cowardly Potpan leaped from his seat at her 
side, and ran and hid in a plum tree. 

All, all alone stood the gay cart in the deserted 
street, all, all alone sat the deserted bride. The 
oxen came to a halt. A bell somewhere on their 
harness jangled, and then the world was very 
still. 

Nearer and nearer and lower and lower through 
the sky came the giant bird, flapping its shin¬ 
ing wings. Suddenly its shadow fell across the 
cart. Ailinda sank in a swoon against the arch 
of flowers. But now the great bird settled to 
earth on its claws of red iron, and tall Aileel, 
leaping forth, gathered Ailinda in his strong 
arms, and waked her from her sleep. Closed now 
were the gates of unhappiness; open were the 
gates of joy. 

“Where is Potpan?” said Aileel sternly. 
Ailinda, recovering from her swoon, made faint 

148 



And now , all at once , there were cries and shouts of alarm. “ Run l 
Run , everybody ! The bird 1 Oh , see the bird l ” 








































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

motions in the direction of the plum tree. 

And now Aileel disappeared for a little while, 
and all at once there was a yell, a terrible 
splash, and a loud chorus of the most indignant 
squawking and quacking. Aileel had tossed 
Potpan once more into the duck pond! 

Then Aileel came back, tall and handsome as 
could be, and lifted pretty Ailinda to the seat in 
the iron bird. Then he got in himself, set the 
wings to flapping, and guided the iron bird 
into the air and home to the wonderful King¬ 
dom of Iron. 

And there, in the house of the Lord of the 
Royal Forge and amid great rejoicing, Aileel 
and Ailinda were wed. Good Braulio, I am 
glad to say, remained with them, and all three 
lived happily together all their days. 


150 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 


Once upon a time, a young minstrel wandered 
over hill, over dale, through the world, earning 
his bread as he strayed by piping on a penny- 
pipe to all who cared for a tune. Young was he 
and little of stature, his eyes and his hair were 
brown, and in bright blue was he clad. 

Now it came to pass that, as he wandered 
through the world, the little minstrel said to 
himself one morn, “If some tunes make people 
merry, and others make them sad, whilst still 
others make them dance, why should there not 
be a tune so wondrously pleasant and gay that 
all who chance to hear it must remain joyous of 
heart, and can never be sad or bad or unhappy 
again? Down the roads of the world I shall 
seek the wonderful tune.” 

And, with this new thought in his mind, the 
little minstrel continued on his way through 
the world, bidding good-morrow to all, ques- 
151 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

tioning all. And some there were who thought 
him mad and were scarcely civil; others pushed 
him aside as a jesting vagabond; and there 
were even those who would have cast him into 
prison as a disturber of the public mind and a 
wandering rogue. But there were others, too, 
and these were the brave and the merciful and 
the kind and the merry, who speeded him on 
his way and wished him luck in his quest. 

The summer ripened and came to an end; 
the crackled leaves tumbled and fled before a 
howling wind; snow covered the lonely fields; 
and still the little minstrel roamed the world, 
seeking the wonderful tune. 

Now it fortuned that, as the little minstrel 
turned his steps to the west, he arrived in the 
city of a king whose court musician was said 
to know all the tunes in the world. Travel- 
worn, brown of face, and humbly clad as he 
was, the youth made his way through the 
palace and, cap in hand, knocked gently at the 
great musician’s door. 

152 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

From behind the little green door, long runs 
and wiggles and cascades of tinkling notes 
came dancing out into the quiet of the deserted 
marble corridor. The youth knocked yet again. 
Presently the notes ceased, and, opening the 
door with a stately bow, the court musician 
invited the young wanderer within. 

And now the youth found himself in a pleasant 
room, painted a fair apple-green and set about 
with panels edged with gold; the furniture, too, 
was painted green and gold, and there were 
flowered curtains, a dozing cat, and a china 
bowl. As for the court musician, he was clad 
in a superb costume of the most fashionable 
lavender brocade. 

“Honored Master,” said the little minstrel 
respectfully, “I am roaming the world for a 
tune so pleasant and merry that, once men 
have heard it, they can never be sad or bad or 
unhappy again. Pray do you know this won¬ 
derful tune?” 

“Yes, indeed, I know many a wonderful tune,” 

153 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

replied the court musician. “Listen, now, was 
it this?” And, seating himself at a gay green- 
and-gold harpsichord, the court musician 
played a merry song full of the most elegant 
tinkles and trills. 

“No, I am sure that is not the wonderful 
tune,” said the little minstrel, looking through 
an open window at tiny clouds sailing the 
sunny sky of a mild midwinter day. 

“Then surely this is it,” said the court musi¬ 
cian, playing a second merry tune. 

But the little minstrel shook his head once 
more. 

‘‘ Dear me, dear me! Not the wonderful tune ? ’ ’ 
exclaimed the court musician, wrinkling his 
brow and pursing his lips. “Ah! Wait! I 
think I have it!” And this time he lifted the 
cover of the green-and-gold harpsichord so that 
the minstrel could see the little picture of 
frolicking shepherds painted upon it, and play¬ 
ed a long, harmonious, and majestical strain. 

But the little minstrel shook his head again. 

154 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 


“My young friend,” said the court musician, 
with something of a fatherly air, closing the 
harpsichord as he spoke, “I have played for 
you the only three tunes I know which might 
be the wonderful tune. Are you quite sure you 
are not wasting your life upon this quest? 
Perhaps such a tune as you tell of was once 
known in the world, and is only hidden away; 
yet again, perhaps it is all only a dream. You 
should go to the Kingdom of Music, and 
inquire.” 

“The Kingdom of Music,” cried the youth. 
“I’ve never heard of such a realm. Pray, sir, 
by what road does one go? ” 

“Come! ” said the court musician, taking the 
youth by the arm and leading him to the open 
window. “See you that land of blue cloud- 
capped hills at the world’s edge, and the broad 
and winding river which disappears among 
them? You have but to follow that stream. 
Farewell, young friend, the world is before 
you, and may you find the wonderful tune! ” 
155 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

League after league and day after day, the 
little minstrel followed the winding river, till 
spring stood upon the hills. And now, with the 
first sight of the new leaves, the little minstrel 
arrived in the land of melody. It was a goodly 
land, this Kingdom of Music — a rolling land 
of great fields, sweeping cloud-shadows, and 
ancient oaken groves: a land of pleasant mur¬ 
murs and sweet sounds. Only birds with pretty 
songs dwelt in the Kingdom of Music, and they 
sang more sweetly there than in any other 
kingdom of the world; the very crickets had a 
more tuneful chirp, the river a more various 
music, and even the winds blew merry tunes 
as they whistled through the trees. 

Rejoicing in the kingdom and its sounds, the 
little minstrel was strolling along, half in a 
dream, when of a sudden sky and land were 
filled with a strange,huge,earth-shaking sound, 
a sound of the scraping of thousands of fiddles; 
of the blowing of thousands of horns, flutes, 
trumpets, trombones, and clarinets; of the 

156 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

clashing and clanging and thumping and be¬ 
thumping of thousands of bass drums, kettle¬ 
drums, and cymbals; indeed, in all his wander¬ 
ings the little minstrel had never heard such 
a din. 

The King of the Kingdom of Music was re¬ 
hearsing his orchestra. 

Every single person in the kingdom, whether 
man, woman, or child, was a member of this 
orchestra. Babies alone were excepted, though 
on one occasion the King had made use of a 
gifted child with a musical howl! 

Now, when the rehearsal had come to an end 
and quiet had returned to the land, the little 
minstrel made his way to the royal city, ob¬ 
tained an audience with the King, and asked 
for news of the wonderful tune. 

“The wonderful tune,” said the King from 
his throne, nodding gravely. “Yes, once there 
was even such a wonderful tune! In those days 
peace and plenty reigned in the world, and 
everyone was happy at his task beneath the 
157 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 


sun. One luckless eve, alas! the tune in some 
manner happened to get broken up into notes ; 
and before anyone could help it, these notes 
were scattered and lost through all the king¬ 
doms of the world. Young man, I fear your 
search is in vain; never more shall the sons and 
daughters of men hear the wonderful tune.” 

“But perhaps someone might gather the 
notes together again,” said the little minstrel 
eagerly. 

“Many have tried to do so,” replied the King. 
“Of those who fared away, some returned weary 
in the days of their youth, others crept back in 
old age, and others yet were lost forevermore. 
And never a one returned with a single note of 
the wonderful tune.” 

“Then is the time come for a new search,” 
cried out the little minstrel bravely. “Farewell, 
0 King of the Kingdom of Music, for I must be 
off gathering the notes in the highways of the 
world.” 

“Farewell, good youth,” answered the King. 

158 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

“Return to us when your quest is ended; and 
may you come piping the wonderful tune.” 

And now the little minstrel found himself on 
the roads of the world again, strolling from the 
first chill gold-and-gray of laggard dawns to the 
twilight world of meadows in the gathering 
dark and village bells sounding faintly afar. 

Seven long years rolled over the world; the 
little minstrel searched diligently and far and 
wide, yet never a trace could he find of a single 
note of the wonderful tune. His blue coat, 
which had been so gay, was now sadly tattered 
and torn; even his penny-pipe had a dent in it, 
and his shoes, alas! were scarce worth the put¬ 
ting-on in the morn. 

Now it came to pass, on a day in the early 
winter, that the little minstrel arrived in a 
northern land and followed a woodland road 
through the silence and the cold. The sky was 
overcast with a wide tent of dull gray cloud, 
through which a sun swam, cold as a moon; 
and the whole world was very still — so still 

159 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

indeed that the only sound the little minstrel 
could hear was the scattering of the leaves 
beneath his feet. Twilight came, and found the 
little minstrel far from a house or village; a 
cold wind arose, and presently a thick snow 
began to fall. And now the night and the snow 
closed in upon the wanderer. Huddled in his 
ragged cloak, the little minstrel trudged bravely 
on into the whirling storm; but little by little 
the cold crept into his body and bones, a 
weariness and a hunger for sleep overcame 
him, and suddenly he sank unknowing in the 
brambles by the road. 

When he opened his eyes again, a great open 
fire was burning before him on a huge hearth; 
a blue mug of steaming milk lay waiting at one 
side; and over him there bent anxiously two 
kindly young folk — a sturdy country-lad in 
a green smock, and a pretty lass in a dress of 
homespun brown. These twain were a young 
husband and wife who lived in a little house in 
the wood, loving each other dearly, working 
160 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

contentedly at their daily tasks, and dealing 
hospitably and generously with all. Returning 
through the storm from a distant sheepfold, 
the young countryman had found the little 
minstrel lying in the snow and had carried him 
on his shoulders to the shelter of his home. 
After a few days had passed, and the little 
minstrel felt quite himself again, he told his 
generous friends of his search for the notes of the 
wonderful tune. It was at night that he told of 
his quest; the supper had been cleared away, 
the house was still, and the little minstrel and 
his hosts were gathered by the fire. 

“A note of the wonderful tune — bless me, 
but I think we have one in this house!” ex¬ 
claimed the young wife. And she went to the 
mantel and fished about in an ancient brown 
bowl standing in the gloom. “Yes, here it is, 
sure enough — a note of the wonderful tune !” 
And thus did it come to pass that the little 
minstrel obtained the first note of the wonderful 
tune; for the young husband and wife were 
161 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

quick to make a gift of it to their guest. 

But now you must hear how he found all the 
notes save the last. 

The second note the little minstrel discovered 
on a glorious midsummer day. It had lain in 
an old bird’s-nest in the heart of a great tree, 
and a chance breeze tumbled nest and note 
together at the minstrel’s feet. 

The third note had been hidden away amid 
the books of a famous scholar who lived all 
alone in an ancient tower, gathering the wis¬ 
dom of the world. 

The fourth note was given the minstrel by 
a little child whose toy it was. 

The fifth note was turned up out of the earth, 
on a spring morning, by a whistling plough¬ 
man who saw the minstrel passing by and 
called to him to come and see the strange thing 
he had found. 

The sixth note the minstrel had of a weaver, 
who labored in his own house at his own loom 
and upon it wove fair and beautiful things. 

162 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

The seventh note a great nobleman possessed; 
he dwelt in his castle free of little fears and 
mean rivalries; and truth and courage and 
honor were his squires. 

The eighth note the minstrel had of a young 
sailor, who chanced to discover it in an old 
ship that sailed the seas. 

Of the ninth and last note, however, there 
was still no sign; so the little minstrel put the 
eight others into his pocket that had no hole 
in it, and turned again to his quest. And pres¬ 
ently he walked over a hill into the Kingdom of 
the Blue Lakes, where reigned the Lady Amoret. 

Now the Kingdom of the Blue Lakes was 
quite the fairest of all the kingdoms of the 
world, and Amoret the fairest Queen. Her 
palace stood on an open hill by her kingdom’s 
eastern bound; of golden-white marble was it 
made, and from its terrace one looked west¬ 
ward to distant mountains over a woodland 
bright with lakes. All day long there a gay court 
of lords and ladies in silks and fine array held 


163 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

festival; the music of lutes and violins was 
ever to be heard; and scarce an hour there was 
but had its pleasure, and scarce a pleasure but 
had its hour. 

Clad in a queen’s robe of scarlet and cloth of 
gold, and seated in a jeweled throne raised 
upon the terrace, the Lady Amoret received 
the ragged pilgrim of the tune. 

“The last note of the wonderful tune?” said 
the Lady Amoret. “Seek no more; it is here. 
Beyond the palace domain, by a lake in the 
depths of the wildwood, my court fool has built 
for himself a bower, and upon its wall hangs 
the last note of the wonderful tune. Tarry 
with us a while, and you shall have it. I 
promise you.” 

“May I not go this very instant and find it, 
Your Majesty?” asked the little minstrel 
anxiously. “Long have I roamed the world 
in search of it, and I need it so for the tune!” 

“Nay, tarry a while,” answered the Queen, 
unyielding; “for even were I to bid you go, you 

164 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

would never find the bower, so cunningly is it 
hidden in the wood. You have wandered long 
and afar, good friend; tarry now a while from 
your quest. My kingdom is the fairest in the 
world, and you shall have all you desire.” 

And Amoret gave a command that new appar¬ 
el of the fairest blue cloth be prepared for the 
little minstrel and that a place be set for him 
at the royal board. 

Now it came to pass that, as the Lady Amoret 
and her court beheld how brave a youth the 
little minstrel appeared in his new apparel, 
and hearkened to the thousand wonderful tales 
he had to tell of his quest, they found him the 
best company in the world and determined to 
hold him in the realm. To this end, therefore, 
they strove to drown the memory of his quest 
in a tide of gayest merriments; but, in spite 
of feasts and festivals, the little minstrel never 
once forgot the last note of the wonderful tune. 

Try as he might, the little minstrel could 
never find the note. Again and again he had 


165 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

tried to make his way to the fool’s bower, only 
to lose himself in the tangled paths of the wild- 
wood ; again and again he had questioned the 
court fool, only to be met with a mocking 
courtesy, a finger to the lips, and a jesting wink 
of the eye. One day he even ventured to remind 
the Lady Amoret of her promise, but she only 
laughed at him for his impatience and swept 
him off in her golden boat to a pageant on the 
lakes. 

Now it happened on the following morning 
that the Lady Amoret, taking counsel with her 
court, determined to destroy the note, lest the 
minstrel should discover it, and go. Summon¬ 
ing the captain of the palace guard before her, 
she said to him: — 

“Go to-night to the bower of the court fool; 
take the last note of the wonderful tune, and 
fling it into the depths of the lake.” 

And now it was night, and the lords and ladies 
of the court, strolling forth from dinner, walked 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

through the palace to the terrace of the west. 
A storm was gathering afar, an approaching 
thunder growled, and lightning, flashing in the 
sky, was mirrored in the waters of the lakes. 
Presently there came wind and a patter of 
rain, and soldiers of the palace guard entered 
to close the windows and the doors. 

The little minstrel stood apart by a great 
window, gazing forth into the darkness and 
the storm. His fine new clothes weighed like 
lead upon his shoulders; his jeweled neckcloth 
scarce left him free to breathe; and with all 
his heart he longed for his rags, his liberty, and 
the cool rain on his eyes. 

But the last note — he could not leave that 
behind. Suddenly he heard one soldier say to 
another: — 

“Our companions will be caught in the storm; 
they have ridden forth with the captain to the 
fool’s bower, to destroy the last note of the 
wonderful tune.” 

“Oh, the note, the note, my note! Oh, what 

167 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

shall I do?” cried the minstrel, his heart sink¬ 
ing into depths of despair. “Even now it may 
be lost to the world — this time forever! I 
must find the court fool; he shall tell me where 
the bower lies!” And he looked about in the 
splendid throng for the fantastic motley of the 
fool; but he saw only many in rich garments, 
and the gleam of jewels reflecting many lights. 

Suddenly he chanced to recall that the court 
fool dwelt in the garret of the palace, so up 
great and little stairs he fled to the fool’s 
chamber in the eaves. The rain was now fall¬ 
ing in torrents on the roof close overhead, and 
all at once a terrible peal of thunder shook the 
palace to its depths. Never pausing to knock, 
the little minstrel burst in at the door. 

Candles were burning within the humble cham¬ 
ber, lightning flared at an oval window, and the 
court fool stood in the centre of the floor, still 
in his motley clad. 

“My friend,” said the court fool, with a low 
bow and a mocking smile, “allow me to present 
168 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 

you with the last note of the wonderful tune.” 
And with those words he handed the note to the 
very much astonished youth. 

“I feared lest mishap destroy it,” continued 
the court fool, “so yestereve I took it from my 
bower. You see, I believe in the wonderful tune; 
and without my note, this last note, your tune 
would scarce be worth the playing. And now, 
your hand, little minstrel, for you must hurry 
away at once through the wind and rain.” 

So the minstrel pressed the hand of the court 
fool and, hastening down a tiny corner stair¬ 
case, went forth into the storm. And as he 
fled, he cried aloud to the thunder and the rain 
and the wild wind: — 

“The wonderful tune, the wonderful tune! 
I have it, I have it — the wonderful tune!” 

And now the storm wore itself away, the 
summer stars shone forth in the clearest of 
blue skies, and the only sound to be heard was 
the rain drip-dripping from the trees. Drenched 
to the skin, but with a fire of joy in his heart, 
169 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 


the minstrel hurried through the night toward 
the Kingdom of Music far away. 

When he arrived there, on a summer’s morn¬ 
ing, he found the people of the palace assembled 
in the hall of state, and the King upon his 
throne. 

“I have it, Your Majesty!” cried out the 
little minstrel breathlessly; “I have it, every 
note; here is the wonderful tune! ” 

“What! The wonderful tune? ” cried the King, 
leaping to his feet. “Quick, somebody, ring all 
the bells, send trumpeters through the streets, 
assemble the orchestra, and call hither the 
Violinist-in-Chief, the Lord Organist, and the 
Grand Harper. We shall play it over at once! ” 

“H-m,” said the Violinist-in-Chief, after he 
had put on his huge spectacles and studied the 
wonderful tune, “Don’t you feel that those 
last bars ought to be played very fast, like this: 
tum-diddy-tum — tum-diddy-tum — tum- 
diddy-tum — diddy-dum-dum-dum?” 

170 



V. 


“ A r o, 1 do not agree with you” shouted the Lord Organist 
























































































































































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

“No, I do not agree with you,” replied the 
Lord Organist, a huge personage with a majestic 
air and a bad temper. “Those bars should be 
played slowly,” here he waved a large, solemn 
finger, “like this: turn — turn — turn — turn 
—turn — turn — turn — turn — turn! ” 

“You are both entirely wrong,” interrupted 
the Grand Harper, a short contradictory fel¬ 
low with long arms and long fingers. “To my 
way of thinking the entire tune should be played 
throughout in the same time, in this fashion; 
listen to my tapping now: da-da — dee-dee — 
da-da — dee-dee — da-da — dee-do-dum.” 

“ Impossible! Absurd! No, never! ” cried the 
Lord Organist and the Violinist-in-Chief in one 
long indignant breath. “We appeal to the 
King!” 

But the King had ideas of his own on the 
matter. 

And thus it was that the musicians all took 
to quarreling as to how the wonderful tune 
should be played, and are quarreling still. 

172 


THE WONDERFUL TUNE 


But some day they will make up their minds 
as to how it should go; the little minstrel 
will leave the Kingdom of Music and come 
through the world piping the tune; and then, 
oh, then, what times there will be! 


THE MAN OF THE 
WILDWOOD 

Once upon a time, on a summer’s morning 
after a night’s rain, a country squire’s son stood 
within an arched doorway of his father’s house, 
gazing upon the hedgerows and the fields. The 
sun was shining after the storm, a high wind 
was shaking the trees, scurrying gusts fled 
through the nodding grass, and silvery white 
clouds sailed the arching sky. And beholding 
the bright morning and the rain-washed land, 
a great longing came into the heart of the 
squire’s son to follow the clouds over hill, 
over dale, and to see the world. Presently, with 
his parents’ blessing locked in his heart’s treas¬ 
ury and a purse of gold in his pocket, he leaped 
to the saddle of his dappled steed, waved his 
plumed hat, and galloped away. 

Long he rode and afar, and presently he found 
himself in the heart of the deepest and darkest 


174 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

wildwood that was ever to be seen. Before him, 
behind him, around him all about, were the 
trunks of numberless trees — trees so tall that 
they hid the sky, and made of it but patches 
of cloudy white or speckles of blue; trees — 
broad trees, slender trees, trees that were like 
men-at-arms, trees that were shy and aloof as 
maids, trees that were silent, trees that rustled, 
everywhere trees. And deep was the wildwood 
silence and unbroken save for the soft pad of 
the horse’s hoofs and the rare song of a hidden 
bird. 

At the close of his third day, the squire’s son 
found himself at the gates of a noble city built 
of cedar-green glass on an open hill in the heart 
of the wildwood. 

Now as it was late in the day when the youth 
arrived at the city, it came to pass that he went 
to an inn for supper and the night. The mis¬ 
tress of the tavern, I must tell you, was a lonely 
orphan maiden named Miranda. Surely there 
was never a fairer or a kinder little maid! 


175 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Beneath her ancient roof the humble wayfarer 
met with as friendly a greeting as his richer 
fellow, and with her own hands she gave bread 
and milk to the unfortunate and poor. 

Now it chanced that the youth had been given 
a chamber overlooking the court of the inn, and 
presently he heard from below a confused din 
of voices, laughter, and jeers. In wonder as to 
what the cause of the hubbub might be, the 
squire’s son drew open his latticed window and 
looked down. A great green cage on wheels 
was to be seen there, surrounded by a throng 
of curious onlookers who poked fingers at some¬ 
thing within it, shrieked catcalls, whistled, and 
laughed to split their sides. 

The youth descended to the court, and made 
his way into the throng. 

Within the cage, clad in a gray wolf’s skin, 
sat a creature like unto a man. Strong of body 
was he, and beautiful to behold. His eyes were 
blue and they were the eyes of a wild t hin g, 
and the long hair which fell about his neck was 


176 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

of the strangest tawny gold. Aware of the 
stir made by a newcomer, the prisoner turned, 
and fixed the youth with a glance in which lay 
pride mingled with despair. 

Presently the proprietor of the cage, who 
had been baiting his horse at the stables of 
the inn, returned and lowered curtains about 
the cage and the prisoner. Fearful lest they 
be summoned to pay the showman his penny, 
the onlookers took to their heels, and soon 
the youth found himself alone in the courtyard. 

Now this prisoner, I must tell you, was known 
as the Man of the Wildwood, for some hunters 
had found him in a net which they had spread 
in the wildwood a year before. To some an 
animal-like man, to others a man-like animal, 
the Man of the Wildwood remained a mystery 
in the land. As for the prisoner, never a word 
said he, and none knew whether he would not 
or could not talk. 

Securely locked in his cage, the Man of the 
Wildwood was shown to all at a penny a head. 


177 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

And now, as the youth mused alone in the 
silence, the maid Miranda came forth to light 
the great lantern in the court. A white apron 
she wore, a great white cap, and there were 
red ribbons on her gown. The squire’s son 
thought he never beheld a maid so fair. 

Catching sight of the squire’s son, standing 
idly by, Miranda said to him, "Pray, good sir, 
what may there be in yon cage? ” 

“The Man of the Wildwood,” replied the 
youth. And he told Miranda what he had over¬ 
heard amid the throng. 

“Alas, poor creature,” said the gentle maiden, 
“ how bitter must be such a cage to one who 
has known the freedom of the wildwood! I 
surely must bring him some honey and bread! ” 
And away she sped to the larder of the inn to 
fetch the good cheer. The twilight deepened. 
When Miranda returned again, the youth and 
the maid walked to the green cage and offered 
the gift to the Man of the Wildwood. 

For a little space the prisoner, crouched in a 
178 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

dark corner of the cage, made neither sign nor 
sound. Then slowly, very slowly, he approached 
the gift of the kind maiden and ate of it hun¬ 
grily. And because he had met with so little 
pity and compassion, the Man of the Wildwood 
was moved to his heart’s deep, and gazed upon 
the young folk with strange eyes. 

All evening long the squire’s son mused on the 
Man of the Wildwood. Suddenly a great pity 
possessed him, and going to the showman, he 
purchased the prisoner for fifty golden crowns. 

And now it was midnight; and the green 
cage, drawn by the showman’s horse, rolled 
down a deserted road to the edge of the wild- 
wood. A moon almost at the full sailed the 
high heavens, now vanishing under thin, black 
clouds, now floating forth through silvery rifts 
and isles. Side by side, saying little to each 
other, sat the showman and the youth. 

Suddenly a high wall of rustling darkness 
loomed before them at the verge of a moonlit 
field; the cage had reached the gate of the 

179 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

forest. With a key given him by the show¬ 
man — who was a little afraid — the squire’s 
son unlocked the cage, and freed the Man of 
the Wildwood. And even as he did so, a sum¬ 
mer breeze went singing through the wildwood 
with a great cry of joy. 

Free at last, the Man of the Wildwood said 
naught, but lifted his head to the stars. Then 
raising his right arm high above his head, he 
made a stately sign of salutation to the youth, 
and walked like a king into the darkness of the 
trees. 

The next morning the youth rose early and 
set forth once more upon his travels. Cities 
he saw, and nations, and kingdoms, but no 
one in them whom he thought fairer than 
Miranda. As for Miranda, scarce had the 
squire’s son ridden away, than she began to 
hope for his return. 

Little by little the tide of summer rose to its 
full, and ebbing, left the gifts of golden autumn 
in the fields. 


180 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

But now you must hear of the three mer¬ 
chants, the moonstone, and the misfortunes of 
Miranda. 

It was a harvest eve, and presently Miranda, 
watching by the tavern door, beheld three men 
habited as merchants making their way along 
the city street to the inn. Somewhat to her 
surprise, they came afoot. Two of these mer¬ 
chants, I must tell you, were tall and lean, 
whilst the third was short and fat and had 
green eyes. Unwilling to refuse, yet somewhat 
against her better judgment, Miranda granted 
the request of these merchants for lodgment at 
the inn. 

Now these three merchants, alas, were not 
merchants at all but three famous thieves, who 
had come to the city to steal a certain cele¬ 
brated gem belonging to the king. This gem 
was a moonstone — a moonstone of such rare 
loveliness that men fabled that it had tumbled 
to earth from the moon, and been found in a 
forest glade at the end of a ray of summer 
181 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 
moonshine. In all the world nothing there was 
more fair. 

And now it was another midnight, and the 
three thieves, quitting their rooms in the inn, 
stole as quietly as three cats down the oaken 
stairway to the empty street. Unknown to 
them, however, Miranda — wakened by their 
whispers — followed close behind, now retreat¬ 
ing into shadowy doorways, now leaning 
against a wall lest she be seen. 

Presently the rogues approached the huge 
darkened mass of the palace, and made their 
way into the grounds through the dreaming 
gardens. A little fountain splashed somewhere 
in the night. The moon had set, and a thin 
layer of cloud dimmed the wheeling stars. 

Chuckling softly at their success in having 
thus far eluded the palace watch, the thieves 
now pressed open a little window and crawled 
into the tower of jewels. Hurrying as fast as 
ever she could, Miranda ran to wake the yeomen 
of the guard. 


182 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

Suddenly there was a great outcry, a light 
appeared in a window, there were shouts and 
a clash of arms, and the thieves came tumbling 
out of the window with the moonstone and 
vanished, all three, into the starry dark. A 
moment later flaming torches moved amid the 
trees, a throng of men-at-arms poured into the 
gardens, and Miranda found herself a prisoner. 

Accused of having harbored the thieves and 
of having had a hand in the robbery, the 
maiden of the inn was the next morning brought 
to trial. Shaken to the heart, yet protesting her 
innocence to the last, the poor maiden made 
but a confused defense, and presently was 
condemned to suffer the sternest judgment of 
the law. 

When this was pronounced, however, the 
friends and neighbors who loved Miranda made 
such a tumult in the court that the judgment 
was altered, and Miranda was sentenced to 
be carried in the gaoler’s cart into the very 
depths of the great wildwood, and there 

183 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

abandoned to live or perish as she might. 

And now it was twilight, a golden harvest 
twilight; and Miranda, standing with her hands 
tied behind her by the wrists and her head bowed 
low, was drawn in a two-wheeled cart through 
the darkening streets of the glass city, and car¬ 
ried far out into the pathless regions of the 
wildwood. Once there, the gaoler — who pitied 
her — loosed her from her bonds, gave her a 
crust of prison bread, and drove away. Fainter 
and fainter grew the noise of the homeward- 
faring cart. 

The night was moonless, the stars were bright, 
and a wild wind from some far waste of the 
world was roaring through the trees, now dying 
away to a faint and vagrant murmur, now 
rising to a great wailing rustling cry that arose 
and broke and ebbed like a wave of the sea. 
And the swaying branches tossed their clots 
of darkness against the stars, whilst underfoot 
so dark it lay that naught was to be seen. 

For some moments the unhappy maiden, 

184 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

trembling with dread, stood motionless in the 
dark of the wild wood. Strange sounds drifted 
to her ears — the moan of rival branches, the 
laughter of running water, and the far cry of 
some hunter of the night. Suddenly she felt 
herself grow icy cold, and her eyes closing, she 
sank to the earth and knew no more. 

Meanwhile, that very eve, in the distant city, 
the squire’s son was riding joyously to the inn. 
Presently he reached his long-awaited goal, and 
to his great surprise found the windows dark¬ 
ened and the doorway sealed and barred. See¬ 
ing him thus wandering about, a neighboring 
goodwife came forth from her dwelling, and 
told him, with tears in her eyes, the cruel fate 
of the good Miranda. 

“Oh, wicked judgment!” cried the youth. 
“Quick — tell me whither in the wild wood 
have they taken her; for I must find her, come 
what may!” 

“Alas, who can say?” replied the goodwife. 


185 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

“All that I can tell thee is that the cart van¬ 
ished through the eastern gate, adown the 
eastern way.” 

And now the youth cried to his dappled steed 
to press on as he had never done before, and 
galloped through the night to the wildwood. 
Darker it grew and darker still. 

Arriving at length in a little clearing, the 
squire’s son bade his horse stand halted, and 
plunged into the wildwood, loudly calling and 
hallooing for the lost maiden. On and on 
through briery thicket and stony mire he blun¬ 
dered forward in the gloom. Suddenly an un¬ 
seen ravine opened beneath him; his feet trod 
forward into nothingness; his hands caught 
at the air; and with a cry, he fell. And now as 
he lay there stunned, strong arms caught him 
gently up and carried him away. 

When he woke to life again, he found himself 
lying on a bed of skins piled near a fire on a 
cavern floor. By his side, the torment of his 
human prison fallen from him like an evil gar- 
186 



Before him stood the Man of the Wildwood 





































































































































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

ment, noble and beautiful and strong, stood 
the Man of the Wildwood. 

Lifting himself up and turning toward his 
rescuer, the youth poured forth his story and 
sought the eyes of the Man of the Wildwood 
for a token that he had understood. For a 
moment, however, the Man of the Wildwood 
made no sign. Then, of a sudden, with a ges¬ 
ture at once gentle and commanding, he touch¬ 
ed the youth by the hand, and going to the 
cave mouth, opened his arms to the dark wild- 
wood, and called upon it in its secret speech. 

And he bade the things of the wild — the 
brethren who go afoot, the kindred of the air, 
and the humble folk who crawl upon the earth 
— to go forth through the wildwood and find 
the maiden and guard her well. And he called 
upon them, too, to follow the thieves, and 
make them prisoners of the wood. 

And now a great murmur, even such a sound 
as heralds the coming of a mighty rain, swept 
through the wood. Forth from their dens 


188 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

creeping came the bears, the gray wolves, and 
the little foxes; the shy deer started in their 
glens; the birds awakened with a flutter in 
their nests and took wing into the starry dark; 
the little wood-mice came tumbling out of 
their warm beds; and even the spotted snakes 
went forth to seek. Almost in less time than it 
takes to tell of it, the earth and the air seemed 
full of the people of the wild, questing here and 
there in search of the maid. 

There passed a little time, and suddenly a 
great brown owl, half blinded by the firelight, 
swooped down to the arch of the cave-mouth 
with the news that he had found the maiden 
asleep beneath a sheltering pine; and a moment 
later a nimble gray hare with upstanding ears 
came hopping in with the tidings that the 
thieves had been taken on a wildwood road. 

Now this news was quite enough to cure the 
squire’s son of his fall, so jumping to his feet, 
he followed the staring owl and the Man of 
the Wildwood to the refuge of Miranda. 

189 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

You may be sure that Miranda rejoiced to see 
the squire’s son! As for the thieves, they came 
upon them standing terror-stricken, huddled 
together in the heart of a wide circle of watching, 
silent, flame-eyed animals. Creepers and vines 
had seized upon them as they fled, and bound 
their arms behind with leafy fetters. 

Suddenly a friendly whinny was heard, and 
the dappled steed, guided by a benevolent 
badger, came trotting through the wildwood 
to its master. To lift Miranda to the saddle 
was but a moment’s task. The three thieves 
walking ahead, Miranda riding, and the youth 
and the Man of the Wildwood following behind, 
even thus went the little company through the 
forest dark to the edge of the wildwood. 

Morning was at hand; only the brighter stars 
were left in the wide and cloudless sky; pres¬ 
ently the dawn broke over the green horizon 
of the trees. 

Arriving at the bound of the forest, the Man 
of the Wildwood lifted his arm once more in 


190 


THE MAN OF THE WILDWOOD 

token of farewell, and with his animals clus¬ 
tered about him, watched his friends till they 
vanished down the road. 

Presently the domes and towers of the city of 
glass rose before the little company. A swirling 
autumn mist lay over the fields between the 
wildwood and the city walls, the sky was rosy 
overhead, and hundreds of little bells were 
ringing. 

Pausing at the eastern gate, the squire’s 
son delivered the thieves to the yeomen of the 
guard. 

On the following morning the three rogues, 
brought to trial, declared the innocence of 
Miranda, confessed their wickedness, and re¬ 
stored the moonstone. A stern sentence was 
justly theirs; but so pleased was the king at the 
return of his jewel that he merely condemned 
them to road-mending for a number of years. 
To Miranda the king gave a rich reward, to 
the squire’s son, a fair house whose windows 
looked forth on the treetops of the wildwood. 


191 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

And thus it came to pass that the squire’s son 
married the good Miranda, and lived happily 
with his dear wife and little ones many a long 
and pleasant year. 


192 


THE MAIDEN OF THE 
MOUNTAIN 

Once upon a time, in a noble realm to the 
west of the Golden Plain, there towered to the 
sky a solitary height of such majesty and grave 
beauty that the realm became known through 
the world as the Kingdom of the Mountain. 
Mighty, snow-capped, and serene it rose beyond 
the little woods and willow-bordered streams. 

Now it came to pass that a king ruled in the 
land who had been left with two little mother¬ 
less children, the Prince Ariel and the Princess 
Leoline. The Princess was the elder of the two 
and, though only three years old, considered 
herself quite a grown-up personage; as for the 
little Prince, he was but a child in arms. From 
a window of their chamber in a tower-top, the 
children were wont to look forth over the land 
to the mountain rising afar, now blazing white 
193 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

and bright in the clear midwinter air, now 
half concealed in summer’s hazy veil. 

And now, with the suddenness of a tempest 
shattering the quiet of the night, a wicked 
nobleman, Babylan by name, rose against the 
good King and challenged him to do battle for 
his throne. 

Now it chanced that the wise old nurse to 
whom the King had entrusted the Princess 
Leoline had for some time feared that all was 
not well with her master’s cause, so on the day 
of battle she climbed to a high tower-top to 
see what she could see. Already from afar, 
through the dull still morning, could be heard 
the sullen tumult of the fray. Closer and closer 
advancing, hour by hour louder and louder 
growing, the tide of battle approached the very 
gates of the stronghold. 

Suddenly, enveloped in a cloud of dust, the 
first stragglers from the King’s defeated army 
burst from a little wood and came hastening 
down the road toward the castle. Knowing 

194 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

only too well that all was lost and that the 
troops of Babylan would be soon battering at 
the gate, the good nurse caught up Leoline and 
hurried down the curving stair to warn the 
guardians of Ariel. 

Neither Prince nor guardian, however, could 
she find. The castle was already in confusion, 
people were running hither and thither, an 
alarm bell was wildly clanging, and in the 
soldiers’ court a runaway was gasping out his 
story to a handful of frightened listeners. Well 
aware that her first duty must be the safety of 
the little Princess sleeping on her shoulder, the 
old nurse abandoned the search for Ariel and 
fled from the castle with her charge. And 
because she had been born in a village of the 
mountain and knew the region to be inacces¬ 
sible and wild, the brave nurse turned her steps 
toward the height. 

All night long, down lonely lane and royal 
highway, by woodland path and river road the 
brave woman hurried through the dark war- 


195 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

shaken land. The voice of great waters, roaring 
in the night under turreted bridges, beat upon 
her ears as she fled; messengers galloped by, 
spurring fast; and here and there a signal 
beacon flamed afar on some high crest. But 
presently the swarming stars grew pale, and 
streaks of day appeared in the east. 

Pausing at a lonely farm at the end of the low¬ 
land way, the nurse begged a crock of milk and 
a morsel of bread for herself and Leoline. 

To the east, beyond the hills, rose the great 
snowy summit of the mountain, outlined 
against a clear green sky of dawn. 

And now the pleasant fields gave way to 
rocky wind-swept pastures, lying at the foot 
of a road winding and climbing along a great 
ridge of the mountain to a tiny village at a 
valley’s height. To the right of this road, 
towering steeps of rock soared to a wild, snow- 
mantled crest; to the left, the mountain side 
fell away, a terrible precipice, to a torrent all 
afoam. Up this road fled the old nurse, half 
196 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

carrying, half dragging the weary and bewil¬ 
dered Leoline. 

When they arrived at the journey’s end, the 
day was at its close, the air was hushed, and the 
wide chasm of the valley lay dark with mist and 
gloom. The sun had set upon the huddled roofs 
of the village; but, towering into the upper air, 
the ruling summit still beheld the western light 
and reflected a rosy splendor in its snows. 

Once safe in the village, the old nurse took 
refuge in a cottage belonging to her sister, a 
widow woman who kept a flock of sheep. Fear¬ 
ful lest the cruel Babylan in some manner 
become aware of the Princess and her refuge, 
the good woman wisely determined to keep 
secret the true history of her little guest. In 
time even Leoline herself forgot all about the 
palace. 

Thus did it come to pass that Leoline the 
Princess became Leoline the Maiden of the 
Mountain. 

As for the Prince Ariel, his fate remained a 


197 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

mystery. Some said the poor little Prince had 
perished in a sort of prison, some whispered 
that the wicked new King had caused him to 
be abandoned in the wildwood. But, whatever 
the truth may have been, no one at the palace 
saw him or heard from him any more. 

And now passed many years. Safe within her 
refuge in the mountain, the Princess Leoline 
grew from a rosy-cheeked mountain child to a 
tall, blue-eyed, golden-haired shepherdess. Far 
and wide through the villages of the height 
ran tales of her stout-heartedness and great 
daring, her gentleness and courtesy as well. 
Again and again, in quest of a strayaway or 
seeking some rare flower of the snows, she had 
made her way to heights to which none had 
ever dared aspire. Indeed, so fearless was the 
royal shepherdess that presently a poor woman 
to whom she had brought an armful of snow 
violets cried out to her that she must surely 
be under the protection of the Giant of the 
Mountain! 


198 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

“The Giant of the Mountain,” asked Leoline, 
“who is he? Pray tell me, for I have never be¬ 
fore heard of him.” 

And she turned her head to gaze wonderingly 
on the wild crest of the mountain half hidden 
in the morning mist. 

“The Giant of the Mountain is the ruler of the 
height,” replied the village goodwife. “At least 
so men say, though never in my lifetime have 
men beheld him. Perhaps he has hidden him¬ 
self away from mortals. But long ago, Maiden 
Leoline, in the days of the grandsires, men who 
climbed beyond the torrents sometimes heard 
a great voice speaking solemn as thunder in the 
hills.” 

“Would that I might behold him!” cried 
Leoline. And with wonder in her heart she 
returned to the daily task of watching her 
sheep. Clad in a pretty dress of rustic brown 
and wearing a kirtle of apple green, the royal 
shepherdess was very fair to see. 

Now it came to pass on the afternoon of that 

199 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

very day that, as Leoline was driving her flock 
home to its fold, she heard the sound of weep¬ 
ing, and presently she overtook a little sister- 
shepherdess in tears. Catching the child to her, 
Leoline endeavored to comfort her and asked 
her why she wept. 

“Alas! Maiden Leoline,” replied the ragged 
little shepherdess, “I weep because the white 
lamb which my father bade me guard has 
strayed away and is nowhere to be found. 
Oh, what shall I do, what shall I do?” 

And the little shepherdess wept afresh, while 
her halted flock lowered their silly heads and 
bleated mournfully. 

“A white lamb?” said Leoline. “Come, take 
heart; he cannot be far away. We shall fin d 
him, I am sure, for the sun is still high above 
the west, and the day is far from spent. Do 
you but remain here and guard your flock and 
mine, while I go to search the pasture by the 
snows.” And with these words the kind maiden 
turned her face to the height. 


200 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

Through upland pasture and rocky dell fared 
Leoline, scanning the waving flower-strewn grass 
for the lost white lamb, and listening for a 
forlorn crying; but of the lamb she had neither 
sight nor sound. Little by little the afternoon 
drew to a close. Presently a chill of cold and 
dark crept into the air as the sun vanished 
behind a great mass of sombre cloud. 
Finding a mountain torrent near at hand, 
Leoline followed the edge of the roaring stream 
toward the wild steeps of the mountain. 

The sky was now but one vast and seemingly 
motionless sea of cloud. Beneath this cloudy 
tent, however, floating strangely and swiftly by, 
fled steamy wisps and fragments of shapeless 
mist, and ever and anon one of these fugitives 
enveloped Leoline in its chilly veil. Bravely 
making her way along a path every step more 
dangerous growing, the maiden at length at¬ 
tained the last sweep of open land. Strewn 
with lovely flowers was the field; and two 
strange crags, which Leoline had never seen 
201 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

before, rose from its further bound. 

Now as Leoline gazed upon the two crags, the 
level floor of rock lifted high between them, 
and the pinnacled wall of cliff rising behind, 
she beheld that they formed together a mar¬ 
velous great throne, of which the two crags 
were the carven arms and the cliff-wall the 
sculptured back — a throne for a giant being 
mighty as the mountain: a being whose feet 
were of the earth and whose body rose to the 
clouds and the marshaled stars. And this 
chair stood exalted high, strange and noble 
and dark, now outlined against the sullen 
clouds, now caught up and hidden in their 
depths. 

Presently the unseen sun sank below the crest 
of the mountain and a wild dark fell. The 
clouds rolled about the craggy throne. 

And now, of a sudden, a great roaring wind 
arose which swept the mountain-top with a 
sound of noble music; the cloud veil broke 
asunder and rolled away; a rich and sudden 


202 



For a long moment Leoline , awed yet unafraid , gazed at the Giant 

of the Mountain 





































































































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

light poured down upon the field; and Leoline 
beheld the great throne uplifted high against 
the sunset’s flare. And within the throne, 
mantled in a robe that might of cloud have 
been spun, sat a giant being. The western light 
was about his head, his hands rested on the 
crags, and there was mystery in his eyes. 

For a long moment Leoline, awed yet unafraid, 
gazed at the Giant of the Mountain. Then 
came a sound like unto a far trumpet-clang, 
the winds were again unleashed, the clouds 
once more gathered together, and throne and 
Giant vanished in the mountain gloom. 

All at once Leoline heard a pitiful cry and, 
looking down, beheld the lost lamb at her 
feet. Whence could it have come? It was 
nowhere to be seen a moment before. 

Lifting the lamb gently up, Leoline carried it 
through the twilight to the little shepherdess. 

And now a year and half a year again passed, 
and presently disorder reigned once more within 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

the realm. Weary of Babylan and his tyran¬ 
nies, the people of the land were gathering from 
far and wide to drive him from his throne. 
Surely there was never a worse King! Did he 
demand gold from some unhappy village, gold 
would he have, or else the villagers would see 
their houses in flames and their lowing cattle 
being harried to the royal barns; his prisons 
were full of innocent folk whose possessions he 
coveted or against whom he had taken a grudge; 
no longer in the land was to be found that 
friendly spirit and good cheerwhich had reigned 
there in the time of Leoline’s unhappy father. 
But, though the anger of Babylan was the an¬ 
ger of the thunderstroke, there is an end to all 
patience; and presently the land rose against 
the King. 

The leader of the people in this strife was a 
young forester of humble birth, named Nor- 
bert. This daring youth, I must tell you, had 
once been imprisoned by Babylan for saving 
a poor family from his oppression, but had 
205 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

succeeded in escaping to the mountain. Courte¬ 
ous, generous, and brave as a lion, the young 
Captain was the idol of the land. 

Presently the tidings of the revolt arrived at 
the village in the mountain, and from rocky 
pasture and upland field the youth of the neigh¬ 
borhood gathered in the village square to choose 
their chief. And because Leoline was so spirited 
and daring, they cried out that she must be 
their leader and that no other would they obey. 
Riding at the head of her band of sturdy 
mountaineers and clad in the armor of a 
young knight, even thus went the shepherdess 
Princess to the wars. 

Little by little the army of the revolt swept 
towards the stronghold of Babylan, and pres¬ 
ently encamped at the foot of a huge ridge of 
land no great distance from the city. And there, 
in the meadows below the ridge, the people 
slept, doubting not that the next eve would see 
their victorious standards in the city streets 
and Babylan their prisoner. 


206 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

But when came the dawn they beheld the ter¬ 
rible black horsemen of Babylan drawn up in 
line along the ridge. The sky was pale behind 
them, they moved not, and little awakening 
breezes fluttered their dark bannerets. Mid¬ 
way in the sombre rank, mounted upon a giant 
charger halted a little ahead of the others, was 
to be seen the wicked King. All at once there 
were trumpet calls, some near, others afar, and 
with a great wild echoing cry the host of Baby¬ 
lan swept galloping down the slope of the ridge 
upon the surprised soldiery of the people. 

And now all was confusion indeed! A panic 
was at hand. Emboldened, however, by the 
coolness, courage, and resource of Norbert, the 
army of the revolt, though taken by surprise, 
rallied quickly and held its ground. All day 
long thunder of arms resounded from the fair 
green fields and fruit-laden orchards. Norbert 
performed prodigies of valor, and Leoline was 
ever to be found in the thick of the fray. Now 
at the head of her mountaineers she brought 


207 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

succor to an encircled group of her comrades in 
the revolt,now from Babylan’s own color-bearer 
she wrested the black standard with the scarlet 
eagles, now was she to be seen giving water to 
both wounded friend and foe. But, alas! as the 
day grew old and the shadows lengthened, the 
host of Babylan slowly gained the mastery, 
and by nightfall the army of the people was 
fleeing in disorder through the highways and 
the fields. 

Now it came to pass that Leoline, forced at 
length to abandon the struggle in which she 
had played so brave a part, discovered Norbert 
lying wounded and unheeded in an orchard. 
Dismounting from her horse, she lifted the 
young leader to the saddle and, accompanied 
by her faithful troop, hurried through the 
night toward the village in the mountains. 

And now it was once more dawn. Presently 
Leoline, Norbert, and their followers arrived at 
the little cottage in which Leoline’s old nurse 
and foster mother awaited her return. It was 


208 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

cold, and a crackling fire was burning on the 
huge hearth. After placing their unhappy young 
leader on a little pallet, the mountaineers with¬ 
drew, leaving Leoline and her foster mother to 
care for him. As for poor Norbert, alas! so weak 
was he that he lay helpless and unknowing. 

And now, of a sudden, there came a swift 
knocking at the door, and opening it, Leoline 
discovered there the little shepherdess whose 
white lamb she had found the year before. 

“Oh, Maiden Leoline/’ cried out the little 
shepherdess, “I have come to warn you! The 
King has discovered this refuge and is on his 
way here with a troop of horsemen. They are 
mounting the road along the ridge; my father 
has seen them from the high rock. Oh, make 
haste and hide or you will fall into his cruel 
hands!” 

“But our Captain; what of him? ” asked Leo¬ 
line. “We cannot desert him in his hour of sor¬ 
row and defeat. Quick, give me your aid, and 
we will hide him away in yonder pines.” 


209 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

But the old nurse shook her head. “ Nay, ” she 
said, “stir him now, and he will never again 
waken into life.” 

“Oh, Maiden Leoline, do make haste,” cried 
the little shepherdess, holding the door ajar. 

“Nay, little sister,” answered Leoline, shak¬ 
ing her head, “here shall I remain. Farewell, 
little friend; I thank thee for the warning.” 

Now rose the morning sun in splendor over 
the shoulder of the mighty mountain, rolling 
away the mists and revealing the dewy fields, 
the crags, and the eternal snows in all their 
bright unsullied loveliness. Leaving Norbert 
in the care of the old nurse, Leoline ran to the 
high rock. 

Before and below her lay the village, then the 
deep gulf of the valley opening toward the dis¬ 
tant plain. All at once the Princess beheld 
Babylan and his men! Up the road leading 
along the side of the higher crest they were 
mounting. Ever and anon, on lesser slopes of 
the winding road, they galloped their steeds. 


210 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

Now crept despair into the heart of the brave 
Leoline even as the bitter cold of a winter’s 
night creeps into a room when sinks the fire. 
And in her heart she beheld the helpless Nor- 
bert in the hands of his enemy, her people flying, 
pursued, to the caverns in the mountain, and 
her village laid low. 

But of whom could she now seek aid? Along 
the snow-crested ridge nearer and nearer rode 
the wicked King. 

Suddenly Leoline recalled to mind the Giant 
of the Mountain. Turning her face toward the 
mountain peak, she lifted her arms to it and 
cried aloud: — 

“0 Giant of the Mountain, 0 Giant of the 
Snows, help us in our need!” 

Loud and clear rang the cry of Leoline through 
the mountain air and was followed by a silence. 

A breeze shook the branches of the dwarfed 
pines; a bird sang. 

Then, suddenly, a far high murmur trembled 
to a roar, a roar loud and terrible enough to 
211 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

drown all the sounds of the world, and from 
the snow-capped ridge above the road there 
flowed and rolled down on Babylan and his 
men a mighty avalanche. Huge stones were 
there in it, glistening ice and snow, brown 
earth and uprooted pines. Sweeping over the 
road, the mass poured over the precipice into 
the valley-depth a league below. 

Such was the end of the wicked Babylan. 

Now it came to pass that, because his horse 
had gone lame, one of Babylan’s men had fallen 
behind and, as a consequence, had escaped the 
avalanche. Upon this fellow the mountaineers 
quickly fell and were about to do him a mis¬ 
chief when the horseman cried: — 

“Hold! Hold! I, and I alone, can tell you 
of the lost Prince Ariel.” 

Hearing these words, the mountaineers 
thought it wise to take their captive to Leoline. 
Bound securely, the horseman was thrust into 
a corner of the cottage and commanded to tell 
his story to the assembled company. 

212 


THE MAIDEN OF THE MOUNTAIN 

“Babylan gave me the Prince Ariel,” said the 
man at arms, “and bade me abandon him in 
the wildwood. But I obeyed not his cruel word 
and left the child with a good forester, named 
Hildebrand of the Oaks.” 

Now, when the horseman had spoken, all pres- 
sent knew that, by a strange and wonderful 
turn of Fortune’s wheel, their young leader 
was likewise their lawful lord and king. For 
Norbert the daring had passed as the son of 
the forester, Hildebrand of the Oaks. 

And now it was the old nurse’s turn to speak. 
Said she, “Long enough have I kept my coun¬ 
sel, but now that the danger which kept me 
silent is no more, I may tell all. Our Leoline, 
whom you have known as Leoline, the shep¬ 
herdess, is Leoline, our Princess and own sister 
to Prince Ariel.” 

And she told them all of her flight to the 
mountain and of how she had saved the little 
Princess from the cruel Babylan. You will 
believe that Leoline was amazed to find herself 


213 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

a real Princess. But her heart was filled with 
joy and pride because of her brother’s deeds. 

Now, when Ariel’s wounds had healed and his 
strength had returned, the people of the moun¬ 
tain escorted him in triumph to the royal city, 
and there, amid universal joy, the brave Prince 
claimed and received his own. The annals of 
Fairyland tell of no better King. I am glad to 
say that he richly rewarded both the man at 
arms and the old nurse. 

As for Leoline, 'she took the Mountain for her 
kingdom and, under the protection of the Giant 
of the Height, dwelt there long in peace and 
happiness. 


214 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 
AND THE BELL OF 
THE SEA 

Once upon a time a brave mariner, who had 
sailed the blue for many years, married a cap¬ 
tain’s daughter and went to live in a pleasant 
inland country a long way from the sea. Now 
it came to pass that, as the sailor and his wife 
dwelt in the inland vale, a sturdy son was born 
to them whom they named Altair; and this 
little son grew to manhood with a great long¬ 
ing in his heart to go companying with sailors 
and sail upon the sea. Presently the old mariner 
called his son unto him and said: — 

“Dear son of mine, a sailor were you born 
and a sailor you shall be. Go you forth to the 
ships, have your fill of a sailor’s life, and may 
honor and fortune come to you upon the sea.” 
So now the youth Altair bade his dear parents 

215 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

farewell and followed the northern highway to 
a certain great city by the sea. Day after day, 
as he walked, the soft blue skies and golden 
clouds of the inland country vanished behind, 
a brightness and a faint glow of green appeared 
in the arching heavens, and a cold northern 
wind shook each sombre northern pine. Sud¬ 
denly one morn the youth heard from afar the 
endless thundering of breakers and, arriving on 
a sandy height, beheld great seas tumbling in 
foam and white confusion on the shore. And 
thus discovering the sea, something in the 
heart of Altair shouted and leaped for joy. 

To one side and below stood the towers and 
masts of the city; there were sailors in her streets 
with brown faces, rich merchants in velvet 
caps and gowns, brave pilots, and adventurers, 
and captains coming and going to their ships. 

After purchasing a stout jacket, a knitted cap, 
a blue sailor blouse, and a pair of trousers 
belling out below, Altair set down his name in 
the book of a great ship and sailed away upon 
216 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

the sea. Seven years he sailed, now through 
nights of whispering seas and skies of silent 
stars, now through storms and howling winds 
and waves blown white with foam. Little by 
little the youth’s blue eyes took on the look of 
one who sees afar, his body grew strong, and he 
walked as a sailor walks, with feet apart and a 
roll from side to side. Seven years he sailed, 
and then became a captain and master of a 
vessel of his own. 

Now it came to pass that, as the blue-eyed 
captain returned from a long and lonely pas¬ 
sage to the Isles of Gold, he beheld a great 
multitude of ships sailing together down the 
sea. Across his bow they sailed, great ships 
stately as castles of oak, little ships that bobbed 
and courtesied to every wave, ships with pen¬ 
nons, ships with banners, ships of all rigs and 
colors in the world. And so great was the mul¬ 
titude of ships that some had already crossed 
the rim of the sea ahead, whilst the swaying 
spars of others rose faint and far behind. 

217 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

In great wonderment as to what the gathering 
might portend, the young captain hailed a 
passing ship and questioned a master mariner. 

“These be the ships of all the world, Sir 
Captain,” answered the master mariner, “and 
we sail to the land of the King of the South, 
for he hath summoned us one and all. There 
is great news, they say, awaiting us at journey’s 
end, but of what it may be none can tell. But 
come: up with your helm, Sir Captain, and 
follow through the sea.” 

Week after week, through weather fair and 
weather foul, Altair sailed with the ships of the 
world to the Kingdom of the South. All at 
once, one fine night between midnight and the 
morn, the men upon the masts of the first three 
ships sent back a cry of land, and presently 
the great blue light of the Kingdom of the 
South shone forth, far away and low upon the 
sea. At sunrise the ships of the world, follow¬ 
ing one another in line, sailed through rocky 
gates into the wide haven of the King. 


218 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

The palace of the King was built upon a hill¬ 
top between blue mountains and the sea, it was 
of golden marble made, and a winding marble 
stair led from it to a pavilion and a landing 
on the bay. Rising in solitary splendor above 
the ancient trees of the King’s garden, a great 
belfry-tower soared to the rosy dawn which 
overhung the hilltop and the town. 

And now, in the hall of columns, stood gath¬ 
ered the captains of the ships of all the world, 
great captains with plumes in their velvet caps 
and jeweled swords at their sides, merchant 
captains in capes of sober blue, and humble 
fisher-captains with knitted caps and blouses 
gaily striped. Then came forth to them the 
King of the South, clad in a scarlet robe and 
a crown of yellow gold, and said to them: — 

“Captains of the ships of all the world, I give 
you greeting. You wait to hear why I have 
called you from the seas. Hearken then to my 
word. A belfry have I built, the fairest belfry 
which stands beneath the sun, and I fain would 
219 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

lodge in it the fairest and noblest bell in all the 
world. Find me this bell, 0 captains of the 
ships! Go ye to all nations, and speed through 
all the seas. 

“He who finds the bell shall be given a 
mighty treasure, and be crowned with glory 
and honor.” 

Thus having said, the King of the South led 
the captains of the ships to a great feast which 
he had prepared for them, and there they made 
merry till the closing of the day. 

Now, when the sun had set and the city, the 
still harbor, and the ships were bathed in a 
gentle golden light, Altair descended the wind¬ 
ing marble stair to the pavilion at which his 
ship’s boat lay awaiting his return. Now it 
came to pass that, as the young captain ap¬ 
proached the end of the steps, he saw standing 
by a marble pillar there an old bent fisher-wife 
with a young fisher-maiden at her side. And, 
because it seemed to Altair that they were fain 
to speak to him, yet a little afraid, the young 
220 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

captain paused at the pillar and asked the 
fisherfolk if some misfortune had come upon 
them. 

“Good Sir Captain,” replied the maid, “we 
are fisherfolk of the Perilous Isles who would 
fain return to our homes again. In the spring- 
tide of the year, while my mother and I were 
out amid the nets in our little boat, a storm 
arose which swept us out to sea. For two bitter 
days and nights we fled before the gale, but on 
the third morn a great ship chanced to espy us 
and, rescuing us from the waves, brought us 
to this realm. Long have we sought a way to 
return into our own land. You find us here 
because of our hope that one of the ships of the 
world might be sailing by the Isles. But though 
we have asked those who passed before, there 
was never a one who could help us on our way.” 

And the old fisher-wife shook her head slowly 
and sadly, whilst the maid stood still and said 
no more. The golden light was fading now from 
the city, the still harbor, and the ships. Even 
221 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

the belfry tower stood dark, its empty bell- 
chamber outlined against the sky. Presently 
the great blue light at the harbor mouth awoke 
in its stately tower, and a sudden wind brought 
a little sound of waves on the distant outer 
shore. 

“Be of good cheer, I will take you to the Isles,” 
said the young captain. And, with stately 
courtesy, he put the fisherfolk in the boat and 
went with them to his ship. Then was heard 
the sound of ropes and blocks and the filling of 
sails, and presently the ship of Altair fled 
away like a bird into the dark sea. Already 
there were lights here and there on the dark 
waves, the lights of ships gone seeking the 
marvelous bell. 

At the end of a fortnight of favoring wind and 
fine weather, the ship of Altair arrived by the 
Perilous Isles. Huge and high and dark were 
the Isles, and weed-hung reefs encircled them 
and tossed fountains of spray into the air. 

Off the isle of the fishers, the kings of the world 


222 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

had prepared a fairway — for so mariners call 
a passage — through the cruel rocks, and at 
the entrance to this passage a warning bell 
sank and rose and nodded and swung in the 
seas. 

And now the fisher-maiden and her mother 
bade a grateful farewell to the young captain 
Altair and were rowed ashore to the isle. The 
name of the maiden, you must know, was 
Thyrza. Her eyes were gray, and her hair a 
pretty ruddy-gold. And so fair she was and so 
honest and true her gaze, that Altair thought 
he had never seen her like in all the world. 

As for Thyrza, she stood long upon the shore, 
watching the ship of Altair until it dwindled 
and disappeared at the edge of sea and sky. 

North and south, through the seas of the 
world, went Altair in search of the bell. To 
great cities of golden domes he sailed and 
found silver bells, and brazen bells, and even 
bells of glass, but never a bell for the belfry 
223 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

tower; by lonely shores he passed and saw the 
far surf break in a border of white between the 
yellow sands and the ocean’s sweeping green. 

Now it fortuned that the boatswain of the 
vessel was an old mariner who had sailed with 
Altair since the days of the young captain’s 
apprenticeship at sea. And presently this boat¬ 
swain came to Altair and said to him: — 
“Good master, in the isles of the east was I 
born, and in those isles there runs a tale that 
somewhere, in the great sea flowing westward 
down the world, lies an isle of bells. There is a 
city there, they say, whose citizens take such 
joy in the ringing of bells that they will be at 
it all day long; in the mountains of the isle 
are rare metals most fit for noble bells, and 
there is a King there who is the bellman of 
the world. It may be but an idle tale, but I 
tell it as’t was told to me.” 

“East and north and unto the south have I 
sought the bell in vain,” said Altair. “Into 
the seas of the west none have ever sailed. 


224 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

Come, helmsman; about, about, and follow 
the setting sun; we shall seek this hidden 
isle.” 

Westward into the bright waves and the great 
glory of the sun sailed Altair. Higher grew the 
waves, the sun-bright spray fell in showers 
about the bow, and streams of marbly foam 
ran hissing at each side. A thousand leagues 
upon a thousand leagues sailed the ship, and 
presently there came a windless night of sway¬ 
ing ropes, still waters, and the stars. And, 
while the ship glided ever so gently on into the 
night, there was heard over the sea, faint and 
far, a golden sound of bells. 

Now uttered the sailors a cry of joy which rang 
to the stars and drowned the voices of the bells. 
And a wind arose, and the sails filled, and when 
it was dawn the mountain isle of bells stood 
before them, lonely as a ship in the wide circle 
of the sea. 

Then to the city of bells they went, and found 
bells on every house and tower, and people 


225 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

wearing bells on the borders of their gowns. 
All day long great bells were ringing in their 
towers, chimes were pealing, and clusters of 
little bells replying — tiny bells that sang like 
children at their play. 

Nowit came to pass that, when the old, bearded 
King of the Bells heard the tale of the brave 
voyage of Altair, his heart warmed to the sturdy 
blue-eyed youth and he said to him: — 

“Good Sir Captain, you shall have the bell 
you seek, the fairest and noblest bell in all the 
world. To-day shall the metal be prepared and 
melted in the furnace of the mountains, and 
to-morrow at high noon shall the metal be 
poured into the mould of the bell.” 

And now it was the high noon of the following 
day, and the King and his people, together 
with Altair and his sailors, stood beside the 
fiery pit in which the metal of the bell boiled 
in foam of green and red and eddying copper- 
gold. Taking a golden cup filled with earth, 
the King cast it into the pit, saying: — 

226 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

“0 bell, by this token I charge thee to remem¬ 
ber the earth! 

“The earth and her sweet sounds, the songs 
of birds, the rustle of leaves, the murmur of 
brooks, the cry of the night wind, the majesty 
of thunder: of these speak to the sons of men!” 

And thus having spoken, the old King took a 
golden cup of water of the sea, and cast it also 
into the molten pit, saying: — 

“0 bell, by this token I charge thee to remem¬ 
ber the sea! 

“The sea and her voices, the roaring of the 
mighty waves, the thin whisperings of foam, 
the talk of ripples on the shore of sheltered 
isles, the tumult of the gale: of these speak to 
the sons of men!” 

And they poured the fiery metal into the earthy 
mould and left it to grow cool. Seven days and 
seven nights sped by, and presently came skilful 
men to cut the bell from the mould, and sculp¬ 
tors to carve upon it flowers and trees and 
leaves and birds and waves and cockle shells. 


227 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

And Altair thanked the old King with all his 
heart and, stowing the bell in the hold of his 
ship, sailed away eastward and southward 
through the sea. 

Now it came to pass that, as the returning 
voyage drew to an end, the young captain 
found his ship to be almost empty of victuals 
and drink; so he hastened to the nearest port 
to see what he could buy. Now it chanced that 
there lay in the same port another ship which 
was also returning with a bell, a fine bell to be 
sure, but not one worthy to be named with the 
bell of brave Altair. The name of the captain 
of this other ship, you must know, was Kraken, 
and he was filled with curiosity to see if the bell 
of Altair was a better than his own. 

The ship of Altair lay at a wharf, and strong 
brown-faced men worked in the hazy sun, roll¬ 
ing kegs of water to the deck and carrying bags 
of meal down into the hold. Presently Kraken, 
sitting in the stern of a red boat rowed by six 
of his sailors, came over to call upon Altair. 

228 


1 ■ . — .I '■■Cl--' 11 ■ ~ ' - . I m ■ — 



And stowing the Bell of the Earth in the hold of his ship , the 
young Captain sailed eastward and southward through the sea 





































































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

And now Altair and Kraken stood in the dark 
hold of the ship, and Altair held up a great 
light so that Kraken might see the wonderful 
bell. And beholding the bell, how fair it was, 
Kraken said in his secret heart: — 

“If the Captain Altair shall return to the 
land of the South with this wonderful bell, 
my bell will never win the treasure of the King. 
I must find a way to destroy this captain and 
his bell!” 

Turning to Altair he said, “Brother Captain, 
when do you sail away?” 

“To-morrow at high noon,” replied Altair. 

“At high noon?” said Kraken, his envious 
eyes suddenly lit with a wicked thought. “You 
dare then to sail at night through the reefs of 
the Perilous Isles?” 

“My ship is fast,” replied Altair, “and I shall 
find the floating bell of the fairway before the 
sun has set. Once I find it, what is there to 
fear? The passage which it marks is deep and 
wide. And the Bell has a brave clang.” 

230 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

And now it was the next morn, and Kraken 
sailed early from the port. All morning he 
sailed over a lonely gulf of the sea, and arrived 
at noon before the Perilous Isles. It was a 
windy day, the hazy sky was now open, now 
overcast, and here, there, and all about the 
reefs were breaking white. Gulls barked and 
piped, and the shaggy weed-hung sides of the 
nearer reefs rose and fell with the waves. 

Presently Kraken caught sight of the floating 
bell which marked the entrance to the fairway 
of the Isles. 

The sea-bell had been made in the fiery moun¬ 
tain forges of the Kingdom of Iron. Its round 
base was of iron, and a band of iron, chiseled 
about with fish and shells and flowers of the 
sea, encircled its tossing rim. The warning bell 
rose from the center of the shield, and two iron 
figures, one of a giant, one of a dwarf, struck it 
with iron hammers night and day. 

And Kraken laughed and sent men to break 
the hammers from the hands of the iron figures 


231 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

so that the bell should sound no more. And 
this they did. But the dwarf and the giant 
continued to lift and lower their empty hands. 

Sailing through the fairway, Kraken con¬ 
tinued on his course to the Kingdom of the 
South, and was soon lost to view. 

The wicked deed, however, had not passed un¬ 
seen. Thyrza, the fisher-maiden, had beheld all. 

The long hours of the afternoon dragged to 
their close. Sunset was at hand. Black clouds 
rose over the edge of the world, the sea dark¬ 
ened, and the heavy waves grew black and 
streaked with foam. A wind began to howl. 

Suddenly Thyrza beheld the sails of a great 
ship fleeing before the gale. The hidden sun 
had almost set, and the black clouds were 
barred with rays as red as fire. 

“ ’T is the ship of Altair,” cried Thyrza. “The 
night is gathering fast, and, unless he hears the 
bell in the dark, Altair will be wrecked upon the 
reefs. I must row to the bell, if I can, and sound 
the warning clang." 


232 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

And now the courageous maiden hastened to 
her little fishing boat and rowed through the 
dark and the gathering storm to the soundless 
bell. Long and hard she fought, and presently 
a great gust of the gale swept her down against 
the bell. Great waves were breaking over it in 
bitter spray, and it rolled and tossed and turned 
and plunged in the sea. 

After tying her little boat to one of the figures, 
Thyrza took a round stone, which she used as a 
weight for a net, and began to sound the bell. 

Nearer and nearer drew the ship of Altair. 
The fiery bars of the sunset faded from the 
clouds; the wild night closed in upon the sea. 

“Ding — Dong! Ding — Dong!” went the 
bell. And the wind howled in the dark, and 
the waves thundered and broke as they fled. 
Suddenly Thyrza saw the lights of Altair’s 
ship close at hand; the vessel was safely enter¬ 
ing the passageway. 

So near she passed to the bell that Thyrza 
could almost have touched her oaken side. 


233 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Now, when the lights of Altair’s vessel had 
vanished in the night, Thyrza went to unloose 
her little boat and row ashore. Some fishers 
had seen her on the bell and built a great bon¬ 
fire on the beach to guide her safely in. But 
suddenly the maid beheld the lights of a sec¬ 
ond ship, searching for the fairway and the bell. 

Weak and chilled though she was, Thyrza 
sounded the bell till this vessel, too, had passed 
safely through the reefs. Much to the maiden’s 
surprise, this second vessel came about and an¬ 
chored in the little fishing-harbor of the Isles! 

Guided by the light of the fire, brave Thyrza 
safely made her way to the shore. 

As for Altair, he continued on to the Land of 
the South, and was given the treasure and the 
crown of glory and honor for bringing the fairest 
and noblest bell. 

And the bell of the earth hung in the belfry- 
tower, and in the morning and the evening 
spoke to men of the wonder and mystery of 
the earth and the changing sea. 


234 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

And now the brave young sailor had riches 
and honors like unto a king, yet was he restless 
at heart, for he remembered the maiden Thyrza 
and was fain to make her his wife. Returning 
again to the sea, he sought the Perilous Isles, 
and hurried ashore to find the gray-eyed maid. 

“You seek the maiden, Thyrza?” asked the 
fishers. “Alas! she is gone we know not where. 
In the month of the low moon, two great ships 
passed at nightfall through the fairway of the 
reefs; one ship continued over the sea, and the 
other came to anchor in our bay. We fear that 
this ship was perchance a pirate ship, for she 
sailed away at the break of dawn, and since 
that hour Thyrza hath not been seen.” 

And the fishers told Altair of how Thyrza had 
saved the ships by striking upon the sea-bell; 
and Altair remembered the night of which they 
spoke, and knew that Thyrza had saved him 
from the reefs. 

East and west and north and south, along the 
shores of the world went Altair in search of the 


235 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

maid. But never a one he found who could tell 
him aught of her. A long year he sailed, and 
presently he came to the Kingdom of the Moon. 

Now it came to pass that, when he went to 
the palace to ask tidings of Thyrza, attendants 
came and led him before the Queen who ruled 
the land. And she was very young, and clad 
in a silver gown, a silver crown, and a spread¬ 
ing robe of blue. 

Strange to say, a heavy silver veil hid her face 
from all. 

“Sir Captain,” said the Queen, when she had 
heard the story of Altair, “you are wasting 
your days in quest of the fisher-maid. She is 
gone; you will never see her more. Have done 
with this hopeless seeking, and take service in 
my realm. Stay, and I shall make you the 
kingdom’s admiral.” 

But gallant and faithful Altair shook his head 
and answered, “No.” And though the Queen 
twice and even thrice besought him to stay, he 
still remained faithful to his quest. 

236 


THE BELL OF THE EARTH 

Then laughed the Queen a little merry laugh, 
and tossed the veil aside. And Altair beheld 
Thyrza on the throne! 

“Dear Altair,” said the Queen, “you shall 
hear all. My father was the King of this 
country and I was his only child. It fortuned 
that one morn we went forth in a ship, and a 
great storm arose which drove us from our 
course far out into the sea. Presently the ship 
struck upon the reefs of the Perilous Isles and 
went to pieces fast. Of all aboard, I alone was 
saved. 

“My subjects long sought for news of the 
missing vessel, but in vain. Years passed, and 
presently a fisherman of the Kingdom of the 
Moon chanced to land at the Isles and heard 
from the fishers the story of the wreck. He 
returned with the tidings, and my people came 
in a great ship to take me to my land. We 
hurried away, for a dangerous wind was blow¬ 
ing and the captain was a stranger to the reefs. 
But even now there is a ship on the sea which 


237 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 
carries tidings and gifts to the fishers of the 
Isles.” 

So now the courtiers and the attendants bowed 
politely and withdrew, and Altair and Thyrza 
walked together to a great window by the sea. 
And there the young sailor and the Queen who 
was a daughter of the sea pledged their faith 
to one another. 

Their wedding was the most splendid wedding 
ever seen in all the world. Altair’s good father 
and mother were there, Thyrza’s foster mother 
too, and all the sailors danced hornpipes and 
sang old pleasant songs of the sea. 

And they all lived happily ever after. 


238 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE 
WORLD 


Once upon a time a young knight, named 
Alois, went to dwell at the court of a mighty 
King until his coming of age, for he was with¬ 
out kinsmen, and heir to great powers and 
possessions. A tiny round room in the castle’s 
topmost tower was given him to be his very 
own; and from the curving sill of its one great 
window he could look down on the gardens of 
the palace, the woodland beyond, and see the 
older nobles walking two by two behind the 
King. 

Now it came to pass, upon a summer eve, that 
the knight Alois beheld from his tower a lovely 
golden light moving about on a hillside in the 
wood. 

“The elves must be dancing on the hill,” said 
the young knight. “I ’ll ride into the wood, and 
watch them from afar.” And gallop-a-gallop 


239 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

away he rode in the dark. The night was still, 
the birds had gone to bed, and a young sickle- 
moon was sinking in the west with the old 
moon in her arms. 

Suddenly the youth beheld the golden light 
approaching through the trees. 

A pretty maiden in a dress of homespun green, 
a white apron, and a little cap was carrying 
a golden lantern through the wood. Her eyes 
were upon the ground, and every once and a 
while she stooped to gather a flower from the 
earth and thrust it into a basket by her side. 
Dismounting from his horse, Alois followed the 
maid afoot, fearful lest the snapping of a twig 
reveal his presence in the dark. 

And now the maiden came to a little house in a 
moonlit forest-glade and, entering the dwelling, 
closed the door gently behind her. A casement 
window stood open to the night, the beam of 
the golden lantern filled the room, and pres¬ 
ently a voice began to sing a pretty country- 
tune. Mingled with the lilt of the ballad was 


240 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

a strange sound, a purring treading sound 
something like the whir of a spinning wheel, 
but heavier and with a queer wooden click to it 
every tiny while. 

Approaching quietly in the moonlight, Alois 
rose on tiptoe and gazed within the house. 

A single candle in a tall candlestick was burn¬ 
ing at each end of the mantel, candles were 
burning in sconces on the wall, and the golden 
lantern, still aglow, hung close beside the door. 
The maiden of the light was sitting at an oaken 
loom, working the treadles with her feet, and 
tossing the shuttle back and forth from side 
to side. Skeins of golden thread, and white, 
and rose, and mulberry, and blue lay at her 
fingers’ ends, and on the frame of the loom 
stood forth the finished labor, a noble tapestry 
in which the maiden had cunningly woven 
knights and ladies, banners and tents and men 
at arms, and castles moated round with quiet 
streams. 

This maid in homespun green, I must tell you, 


241 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

was an orphan lass who earned her bread in the 
world by weaving at her loom. It was her cus¬ 
tom to stain the weaving yarns with colors 
made of roots and flowers, and she had been 
wandering about in search of the starlight 
daisy when Alois had seen her lantern on the 
hill. 

Now it came to pass that, as the youth Alois 
rode home in the moonlight to his tower, he 
could think of naught but the lovely maiden 
of the loom and determined to ride forth again, 
find her, and make her his wife. On the fol¬ 
lowing morning, therefore, he rode singing down 
the wildwood road to the house in the glade 
and asked a cup of water from the maid. And so 
graciously and prettily did Fidelia — for this 
was the maiden’s name — offer him the cup, 
that Alois thought her more than ever quite 
the most charming person in the world. 

Months passed, the youth rode every day to 
the little house, and presently made so bold 
as to ask Fidelia to marry him on the morrow’s 


242 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

morn. Little suspecting that Alois was aught 
but a simple squire of the court, the maiden 
answered with a nod, and promised to be ready 
to ride with him to the village on the hilltop, 
and there be wedded by the Master Villager. 

And now it was the marriage morn; great 
clouds fled over the sun, chilling and quieting 
the world, yet every now and then breaking 
asunder and dappling the broad land with 
spots of sunshine, which gleamed for a moment 
and were gone. Dressed in her pretty country 
finery, and with a nosegay of posies at her 
throat, Fidelia stood by her window waiting 
to hear the thunder of arriving hoofs and Alois’ 
joyous hail. 

But, alas! little by little the morning dragged 
along, the wooden clock on the mantel ticked 
and ticked and ticked and ticked, the clouds 
gathered in a gray sea over the noontide sun, 
yet of Alois came no sign. Early in the after¬ 
noon a gentle windless rain began to fall, and 
presently the flowers in the garden hung their 
243 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

heads in the gathering gloom, as if in sorrow 
to see so fair a bride forsaken and forgot. 

But now you must hear of what had hap¬ 
pened at the court. 

Now, after bidding farewell to the maiden of 
the loom and promising to return on the follow¬ 
ing morn, Alois had gone to his tower and attired 
himself in the magnificent costume which court 
ceremonial prescribed for all who were fain to 
speak with the King. This habit was of richest 
white satin, faced with gold; a sword set with 
splendid sapphires was belted to its side; and 
a short blue-velvet cape, hanging in loose folds, 
was secured at the breast by a golden chain. 
Now, as Alois was very dark and red-cheeked, 
you will see that this costume was really quite 
becoming. 

Thus arrayed, the youth went boldly to the 
King, and spoke freely and frankly of his love 
for the maid of the loom and of his purpose to 
be married with her on the morrow’s morn. 


244 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

The King, who sat on his throne clad in a 
great scarlet robe and wearing his crown, lis¬ 
tened to Alois with a smile when he began, but 
with a frown as the tale drew to an ending. 

“Youth,” said the King sternly, “I have 
heard enough; this folly must end, and at once. 
Are you so far forgetful of your great inheritance 
that you must take a weaver’s lass to be your 
bride? Go to your tower, and see that you 
ride not beyond the castle wall until I speak 
the word!” 

“But, sir, am I not in this my own master?” 
cried Alois, unafraid. 

“You are my ward,” replied the King, with 
cold authority, “and I have other purposes for 
you. Sir Alois, go!” 

“Do what you will,” replied the youth; “I 
shall have Fidelia, and no other.” And holding 
his head high, the youth Alois quitted the 
audience hall, and mounted to his room. 

Now when he had gone, the King, who had 
sat silent a moment, chin in hand, suddenly 

245 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

threw off his crimson robe, called for his coach, 
and rode through the wood to a giant tower on 
the brink of a wild ravine. A powerful enchanter 
dwelt there, whose magic aid and guileful coun¬ 
sel were ever at the service of the King. 

And now the enchanter sat in a huge golden 
chair hearkening to the King. He was very old, 
this enchanter, and attired in a full black 
mantle, spangled with silver stars and golden 
crescent-moons; and, as he sat in his golden 
chair, he leaned forward and rested his two 
hands on a stout black cane. The high round 
chamber was full of a cobwebby gloom, and 
on shelves in the arched windows stood crystal 
flasks of a thousand twisted shapes and colors: 
deep ocean-blues, fiery scarlets, smoky purples, 
clear topaz yellows, and bright snake-like greens. 
And there was a huge black lizard with greeny- 
scarlet eyes, that made scaly noises as it ran 
about on the flagstones of the floor. 

When he had heard the King’s story of Alois 
and Fidelia, the enchanter smote the floor with 


246 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

his black cane, rose to his feet, saying never a 
word, and took from a niche in the wall a jar 
of blackest marble, strangely veined with gold. 

“You have done well to come to me,” said the 
enchanter to the King, “for the youth is proud¬ 
spirited and will resist you to the end. ’T were 
wisest to bend him to your will by magic guile. 
Within this phial dwells the water of forgetful¬ 
ness ; a goblin brought it me from the depths 
of the underworld. To-night you must pour it 
forth into a golden goblet, and that goblet you 
must stand by the youth’s place at the dinner 
of the court. As soon as he drinks of it, he will 
forget the weaver’s maid forever.” 

And now it was evening, and the King and his 
guests were at dinner in the castle banquet- 
hall. There were candles everywhere, white 
tables and golden plates, and much coming and 
going of servants clad in green. From the royal 
table, raised above the others, the King watched 
Alois through the meal. Suddenly he smiled 
a grim smile; the youth had drunk the cup. 

247 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

When it was late at night the King summoned 
Alois before him, stared into his eyes, and beheld 
that he had indeed forgotten all. 

“My Lord Alois/’ said the King, “your com- 
ing-of-age approaches, and you will soon find 
yourself the greatest lord in my dominions. 
Since you are my ward, it has been my duty to 
seek for you a bride worthy of your titles and 
estate. In the Kingdom of the Fields a fair 
Princess dwells. Melusine is she called, and 
to-morrow’s morn you shall go forth in state 
to offer her your homage and your hand.” 

Thus spake the crafty King, and hid in his 
heart his design of adding the Kingdom of the 
Fields to his own dominions through the mar¬ 
riage of the knight and Melusine. 

And now it was the morn of cloud and fleeting 
gleams of sun. In the little house in the glade, 
Fidelia stood waiting and waiting at the case¬ 
ment window; whilst at the court, Alois drew 
on his jeweled gloves, bowed to the King, 
mounted into the golden coach, and sank back 
248 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

in splendor against cushions of mulberry bro¬ 
cade. 

“Tick-tock, tock-tock, tick-tock,” said the 
clock in Fidelia’s house, as the hands circled 
the hours. 

And the golden coach, gleaming great golden 
gleams in the pools of light, rolled over the 
hills and far away. 

It was twilight now and, in the little house in 
the wood, Fidelia lifted the bridal wreath from 
her head, lit candles, and sank into a wing 
chair by the burnt-out embers of the fire. So 
great was her trust in Alois, that never a 
questioning doubt of him raised its voice in 
her heart. 

“Some evil thing has surely come to pass,” 
said faithful Fidelia. “Alas! what may it be? ” 
And for two days she walked to and fro between 
the window and her loom, vainly hoping for 
a sign. On the third morning, no longer able 
to bear the burden of her fears, the maiden 


249 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

journeyed to court and sought news of Alois 
from the King. 

“So you are the maid of the loom?” said the 
unpitying King, who owed Fidelia a grudge for 
having endangered his precious schemes. ‘ ‘ And 
’t is your Sir Alois whom you seek? Well, find 
him if you can. Ho, guards of the palace, take 
this forward maid, put her in a coach, and drive 
her far beyond the bounds of my dominions ! ” 

Over hill, over dale, bumping through puddle- 
holes, and tossing and swaying crazily from 
side to side, rolled the coach in which Fidelia 
sat a prisoner. A rushing scurrying wind was 
flowing over the sunny world, shaking the manes 
of the galloping horses, rippling the roadside 
pools, and worrying the little birds who had 
just begun to fly. Presently Fidelia found her¬ 
self on a lonely moor, watching the coach fare 
homeward into the wind-streaked splendor of 
the west. 

And now began the wayfaring of Fidelia in 
quest of Alois, for the King had forbidden the 

250 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

maid to return again into her own land. Down 
the highway of the Golden Plain she fared and 
beheld the grain tossing about her like a sea; 
through the silence of the Adamants she passed, 
and on into the Kingdom by the peaks; yet 
never a word of Alois brought joy to her ear. 

Now it fortuned on a spring morning, as 
Fidelia wandered in a pleasant land of wooded 
hills and little singing brooks, she came to the 
strangest palace that was ever to be seen. Of 
earth o’ergrown with grass were its mighty 
walls and lofty battlements; flowers grew in 
the crannies; blossoming vines swayed from 
its heights; and, when the maiden peered within, 
she beheld there a woodsy hall, whose giant 
columns were the trunks of living trees. At 
the far end of the hall, on a throne of living 
wood, sat a dark and stately queen. Twelve 
maidens stood beside her, three robed in sum¬ 
mer scarlet, three in winter white, three in 
springtide emerald, and three in russet gold. 

The lady of the palace was Airda, the great 
251 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

Earth Queen. Four sons had she, and each 
son was master of a season of the year. 

“My faithful Fidelia,” said the Earth Queen, 
when she had heard the maiden’s story, “be of 
good cheer, for all that hath been hid from you 
shall now be known. An enchanted torrent 
through my palace flows; its waters possess the 
gift of speech, and to every mystery it hath a 
secret key. Follow, Fidelia, to the grotto of 
the stream.” 

Now rose the Earth Queen from her throne 
and led the way through the cool sweet-smelling 
chambers of the palace to a strange dark grotto, 
half cave, half vine-hung hall. At the darker 
end of the leafy cave a lovely waterfall, whose 
torrent was full of a pale mysterious light, was 
leaping from some height overhead into a chasm 
so profound that only the faintest watery mur¬ 
mur rose in whispers from below. Kneeling 
upon the brink of the chasm, Fidelia gazed 
down into the palely glowing depths of the 
abyss and asked of Alois and his fate. 


252 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

For a moment or two, the waters far below 
seemed to gather themselves into a faint echo¬ 
ing roar, which slowly ebbed to a whisper; and 
presently this whisper became a voice, and dis¬ 
solved into delicate and silvery words. And the 
voice of the enchanted chasm told Fidelia of 
Alois’ true faith, of the enchanter and the water 
of forgetfulness, and of the youth’s journey to 
the court of the Kingdom of the Fields. 

“Ah, me! Is there no way in which the spell 
may be broken? ” said Fidelia. 

“In the wood beyond the world,” answered 
the torrent, “under trees which are older than 
the stars, the fountain of memory pours its 
crystal stream. If the youth shall drink a 
golden goblet of this water, the chain of the 
spell will break.” And the silvery voice grew 
faint, and died away. 

And now Airda, the Earth Queen, gave the 
maiden a fair golden goblet with a golden 
cover, and bade her sail upon the giant ship of 
the earth to the wood beyond the world. 


253 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

When the maiden arrived at the sea, the sun 
had vanished below mountains to the west, 
the waves were breaking gently along a darken¬ 
ing shore, and ragged hulks of cloud were lying 
becalmed in the deep and starry sky. Far, far 
out to sea, rising from the waters like the blue 
bulwark of another land and bridging the vast 
horizon from west unto the south, stood the 
giant ship of Airda, the Queen. So high were its 
masts that their tops could scarce be seen in the 
dome of the heavens, clouds swept through the 
royal yards, and the lights within the rigging 
floated like stars upon the sky. 

Three days’ journey long, and close upon a 
day’s journey wide, was the giant ship. Its 
sails were the size of towns, and a sailor on 
horseback carried the captain’s orders to the 
crew. And there were villages aboard, and 
wide fields in which men were ploughing, and 
grazing cattle, and highways, and inns wherein 
travelers might rest. 

Now came the dark, a wind rose upon the sea, 

254 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

the black clouds moved through the stars, and 
a little boat came to take Fidelia to the ship. 
Once aboard, the maiden was given a pretty 
cottage with a garden to be her very own. 

And, sailing by night and by day, furrowing 
vast and lonely seas, the giant ship came to the 
wood beyond the world. 

The fountain of memory lay at the foot of the 
noblest of the trees, and the silvery music of its 
falling water was the only sound to be heard in 
all the wood. A hooded figure of worn and 
ancient stone, standing with head bowed low, 
held aloft the jar from which it flowed, an 
endless crystal stream. 

And Fidelia, stooping to fill her cup in the 
basin of stone below, saw mirrored in the water 
there, gathering and dissolving one into the 
other, memories of all the years of her life which 
had been. 

Once more through the lonely seas sailed the 
giant ship of Airda the Queen, Fidelia again 
beheld the land, and presently she fared over 

255 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 
hill and dale to the Kingdom of the Fields. 

The winter was over and gone, and all the 
towns and villages of the realm were decked 
with bannerets and wreaths of early flowers, 
for in three days’ time the Lord Alois was to 
wed the Princess Melusine. 

Presently Fidelia, journeying through the 
land, arrived on the crest of a hill overlooking 
the royal city and, pausing there a while, took 
counsel with herself as to how she might best 
make her way to Alois and offer him the cup 
of memory. 

“I must find me a loom,’’said faithful Fidelia, 
“and weave upon it a wedding gift so worthy 
that the lords of the castle will suffer me to go 
with it to Alois.” 

And she sought out a house and a loom in a 
village by the city, and paid for them with a 
penny of gold. And from one neighbor she had 
silver yarn; and from another, blue; and from 
others, all the colors of the world. 


256 



Fidelia knelt at the edge of the pool , and filled her golden cup with 

the waters of memory 





































































































































THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

And now Fidelia began to weave a fair tapestry 
picture of the story she had lived, beginning the 
tale with the golden light in the wood and the 
coming of Alois to the glade. Thread by thread, 
inch by inch, the grass-palace of Airda grew on 
the loom, the cave of the talking waters, the 
giant ship with its masts above the clouds, and 
the fountain of memory in the wood beyond 
the world. The sun set behind the high towers 
of the city, and still Fidelia labored at the loom; 
candles melted low, and still the sound of the 
weaving hummed upon the air. 

In the dark of the second night, as Fidelia rose 
to toss a brand upon the fire, she heard, through 
the quiet of the room, the distant beat of gal¬ 
loping hoofs and the thundering rumble of a 
coach. Louder and louder grew the sound, and 
presently there passed the maiden’s dwelling a 
huge coach speeding from the city. Strange to 
tell, its lanterns were unlit and its curtains 
closely drawn. 

“Perchance some noble guest hath been 

258 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

summoned posthaste to his realm,” thought 
Fidelia. 

And now it was the morn, the marriage morn 
of the Knight Alois and the Princess Melusine. 
Alas, still unfinished was the picture tapestry! 
Fearing to risk a single moment more, however, 
the maiden unbound the picture from the loom 
and, carrying the gift and her golden cup, joined 
the merrymakers thronging to the city. The 
streets were already full of soldiers in gayest 
uniforms, strolling musicians, young nobles, 
larking pages, good countryfolk, and sober 
burgesses in velvet gowns. Those who brought 
gifts for Alois and Melusine were faring into 
the castle through the eastern gate. 

The bells of the castle were ringing as they 
never rang before. 

Fidelia approached to the portal with her gift. 
A haughty chamberlain, with a silver chain 
about his shoulders, stood there by the thresh¬ 
old and suffered only those to enter in whom 
he thought well worthy of the boon. 

259 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

“But my good young woman,” said the cham¬ 
berlain severely to Fidelia, “your tapestry is 
unfinished still. Go to your home and weave 
it to an end ere you return again. You may 
not enter.” 

“Oh, sir,” cried poor Fidelia, “do not thrust 
me back! Let me enter, I pray; oh, let me go 
within!” 

“What I have said, I have said,” replied the 
chamberlain, shouting at Fidelia through the 
deafening clangor of the bells. “ Young woman, 
I forbid — ” 

Suddenly the bells stopped in the middle 
of a peal, and everything grew very strangely 
still. People began to look questioningly at 
one another. 

The Princess Melusine was not to be found! 
She had fled during the night with her cousin, 
the King of the Golden Hill. The coach, which 
Fidelia had seen, had borne the runaway bride. 
As for the knight Alois, some said that he had 
already left the realm, whilst others murmured 


260 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

that he was hiding for shame in a tower. And 
many laughed. 

Thrust from the portal by the guards, Fidelia 
returned to her cottage in the fields. 

And now it was night, the air was sweet with 
the fragrance of earth beneath the plough, and 
a sickle moon hung in the cloudy west with the 
old moon in her arms. Within her silent house 
Fidelia kindled a yellow fire, threw the tapestry 
picture over the loom, and stood by the hearth 
gazing deep into the flame. 

Suddenly a knocking sounded at the door, and 
Fidelia, answering the summons, found herself 
standing face to face with the young knight, 
Alois. His pride touched to the quick, the for¬ 
saken youth had lingered in the castle till the 
dark, and then fled with his people from the 
town. And, because he had fled in haste and 
was athirst, the youth had paused at the first 
light shining in the fields. 

Standing on the threshold in the moonlight, 
the youth asked a cup of water of the maid. 

261 


THE STARLIGHT WONDER BOOK 

With a beating heart, Fidelia lifted to his hands 
the cup of memory. 

And now there came an end to the enchanter’s 
wicked spell and the long years of danger and 
faithful questing. Letting fall the golden cup, 
the young knight uttered a great cry and 
stretched out his arms to the faithful maid for 
whose sake he had braved the anger of the 
King, the loyal maid who had loved him with 
a loving faith and braved many a peril for him 
through the kingdoms of the world. 

“Dear Fidelia,” said Alois, “to-day is the 
day of my coming-of-age, and I am free forever 
of the King. Now shall you be the Lady of my 
land. Come; my people and my coach are at 
the door.” 

So now Fidelia quenched the taper, leaving 
only a flickering brand to light the empty room, 
and walked with Alois to the coach. A little 
breeze was stirring in the grass, and somewhere 
in a glen beyond the fields a bird awoke, sang 
a few sweet piping notes, and then was still. 


202 


THE WOOD BEYOND THE WORLD 

“I am glad I did not finish my tapestry,” 
whispered Fidelia; “for now I can weave it to 
a merry close.” 

And the coach rolled away, over hill, over dale, 
in the golden light of the moon. 

The Parson Capen House 
Topsfield, Massachusetts 


Other Books by the Same Author 

THE FIRELIGHT FAIRY BOOK. A new edition with 
a preface by Lieut. Col. Theodore Roosevelt. A collection 
of fairy tales which match the Starlight Wonder Book in 
gorgeous and whimsical fancy, and in their appeal to 
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A VOLUNTEER POILU. Memories of the struggle for 
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Printed by McGrath-Sherrill Press, Boston 
Bound by Boston Bookbinding Co., Cambridge 


























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































